Speedy Cassatt Dusts Rivals in Zia Park Oaks
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Bouncing back from a ninth-place finish in last month's Raven Run Stakes (gr. II), eastern invader Cassatt led at every call while drawing off in the final furlong for an emphatic win in the $309,000 Zia Park Oaks Nov. 26.
Cassatt secured the second stakes win of her career by 4 1/2 lengths with Kerwin Clark aboard. The daughter of Tapit ran the 1 1/16-mile distance in a strong 1:42.29 over a fast track, bettering five other sophomore fillies as the second choice at odds of 9-5.
The winner was named in honor of impressionist painter Mary Cassat.t
The Oaks was the featured Thoroughbred event on a stakes-filled afternoon on the "Land of Enchantment Day" program at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M. A race earlier on the card, California invader Alert Bay scored in the Zia Park Derby in track record time of 1:41.80 for the same 1 1/16-mile distance as the Oaks. The Zia Park Distance Championship, won by Isn't He Clever by a nose over Ol Winedrinker Who, also established a track record of 1:48.48 for 1 1/8 miles.
Cassatt took the lead from Belleofthebeach shortly after the break as she angled toward the inside, and led narrowly through an opening quarter mile of :23.36 while Taste Like Candy ranged up on her outside to challenge. They completed the half in :46.46 with Cassatt leading by half a length, and she inched away from the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Taste Like Candy early on the far turn, opening up by 1 1/2 lengths while completing six furlongs in 1:10.08.
The gray filly was firmly in control as she straightened for home with a second Hollendorfer trainee, Thegirlinthatsong, taking up the chase. But the eventual runner-up was no match for the winner, who sped away from her rivals through the lane under smooth handling by Clark, her rider in the past five starts.
"She likes to be on the front end, and she has a really high cruising speed," Clark said. "I look for bigger and better things from her down the road."
Thegirlinthatsong was three lengths clear of 7-5 favorite Shanon Nicole, whose two-race stakes winning streak was halted. Shannon Nicole raced at the rear of the pack for a half mile before rallying mildly to get the show spot. Belleofthebeach was 8 1/4 lengths farther back in fourth, followed by Dream Spinner and Taste Like Candy. Grade II winner Jojo Warrior, the second choice on the morning line, was scratched.
Cassatt, winning for the fourth time in six starts and boosting her earnings to $339,233, paid $5.60, $2.80, and $2.60. Thegirlinthatsong, ridden by Rafael Bejarano, returned $4 and $3 while completing a $27.80 exacta. Shanon Nicole, under equal weights of 122 pounds, paid $2.20 with Corey Nakatani aboard.
Trained by Larry Jones for Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms, Cassatt was stretching back to two turns after being soundly defeated in the seven-furlong Raven Run at Keeneland Oct. 18. She previously won the 1 1/16-mile Monmouth Oaks (gr. III) in front-running fashion this summer, which was followed by a fifth-place finish in the Cotillion Stakes (gr. I) Sept. 20.
Jones said Cassatt will be pointed to the $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston Race Park in January. Like the Zia Park Oaks, the Houston Ladies Classic is part of the nationwide $5 million Penn Gaming Racing Challenge.
"She's very talented, and hopefully now we have her career where we want it," Jones said. "I think she's one of the most talented horses I've ever trained."
Cassatt was a $300,000 purchase from the 2012 Keeneland September yearling sale when consigned by breeder Mt. Brilliant Farm. She is out of the Giant's Causeway mare Justenufftime.
Peter Redekop's Alert Bay scored by three lengths for jockey Rico Walcott in the $215,000 Zia Park Derby, taking the lead while circling three wide on the turn and opening up for an authoritative decision. The City Zip gelding out of the Chilean mare Hickory, by Dushyantor, was bred in California by Thomas Newton Bell and Ross John McLeod and is trained by Blaine Wright.
Alert Bay ($7.20) ran his winning streak to three following back-to-back stakes victories at Hastings Racecourse in British Columbia in the British Columbia Derby (Can-III) and Premier Handicap (gr. III). The 5-2 second choice, he defeated the late-running 7-10 favorite, Tonito M., with Proceed third.
Four scratches reduced the $159,000 Zia Park Distance Championship to four starters as Isn't He Clever ($4.40) posted his third consecutive win with Enrique Gomez aboard for owners Kirk and Judy Robison. Previously in the barn of Henry Dominguez, the 5-year-old Smarty Jones gelding was making his first start for trainer Johnnie Nall.
Code West, the 9-10 favorite in the short field, was third.
The total handle of $1.28 million Wednesday was the second highest in the 10-year history of Zia Park. The Penn Gaming Racing Challenge will continue on Saturday at Zia Park's sister racetrack, Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pa.