Competitionofideas Blows by Rivals in American Oaks
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Photo: BENOIT PHOTO
Competitionofideas wins the American Oaks Dec. 29 at Santa Anita
Klaravich Stables' Competitionofideas shipped into California and dominated an accomplished group of 3-year-old fillies to win the $300,000 American Oaks (G1T) Dec. 29 at Santa Anita Park.
The Chad Brown-trained Speightstown filly, who came into the 1 1/4-mile race off an off-the-turf placing in the Nov. 22 Winter Memories Stakes, trailed in the eight-horse field through much of the trek and began to wind up midway through the turn for home, but still had plenty of work to do at the top of the lane.
After a four-wide move to get in the clear on the outside, however, Competitionofideas and jockey Joel Rosario had plenty in the tank, and the duo surged by leaders K P Pergoliscious and Amandine to win by 2 3/4 lengths.
"She broke well, we saved ground, and we took one shot," Rosario said. "I thought we would be closer, but everybody wanted their spot, so I just let her settle."
Clear behind the seventh-place runner early on, as K P Pergoliscious set fractions of :24.02, :47.86, and 1:11.95 through six furlongs, Competitionofideas was last at the quarter pole but still blew by the field in the stretch to finish the distance in 1:59.77. K P Pergoliscious, the longest shot on the board at 90-1, just held off Jeff Mullins-trained stablemate Amandine (who was running off just two days' rest since her score in the Dec. 26 Lady of Shamrock Stakes) to take second.
"She's a really nice horse," said K P Pergoliscious' jockey, Tyler Baze. "This is what she wants—a mile and a quarter, a mile and a half."
What made Competitionofideas' closing kick even more impressive is that no other horses made up any significant ground from behind. Colonia was the closest to the top three but came in 1 1/4 lengths behind Amandine. Paved, Princess Warrior, favored Californiagoldrush, and Retro completed the order of finish.
"It's great to finish out the year like this," said Jose Hernandez, Brown's assistant on the scene at Santa Anita. "This filly had settled in real good here at Santa Anita (after doing most of her training for the race at Palm Meadows Training Center), and she was doing good coming into this race. She finished up really strong today."
Bred in Kentucky by John Gunther, Tony Chedraoui, and Eurowest Bloodstock Services, out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Devil by Design, Competitionofideas now has $315,568 in earnings after her first graded stakes try, with a 3-1-2 record from seven starts. She was a $325,000 purchase out of the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.