Eye on the Oaks: Seduire

Seduire gallops to a 2 1/4-length victory in the Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita Park on Jan. 3. (Photo by Benoit Photo)
The sister race to the Kentucky Derby, the $1-million, 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks is held annually at Churchill Downs on the Friday before the Derby and restricted to 3-year-old fillies (young female horses). Eye on the Oaks, which will run through the 2015 edition of the race, takes a closer look at fillies who have won important races and could make an impact as we move toward the first Friday in May.
This week we look at Seduire, winner of the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Newly turned 3-year-old Seduire may have an experience edge on many of her contemporaries with seven races under her belt, including a trio of stakes victories. The daughter of Elusive Quality won Saturday’s Santa Ynez Stakes in fine fashion, setting the pace and cruising clear to a 2 ¼-length win to earn herself 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, good for sixth place in the current standings.
Racing Résumé
Seduire won her debut in May 2014 for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and owner Regis Farms. The filly has since competed exclusively in stakes company, capturing the Wine Country Debutante Stakes, the Golden Gate Debutante Stakes and, on Saturday, her first graded stakes with a tally in the Santa Ynez.
SEDUIRE WINS THE GOLDEN GATE DEBUTANTE

Photo by Vassar Photography
The filly’s first start was an impressive one as she wired the field in a 4 ½- furlong maiden special weight at Santa Anita Park, earning a 91 Equibase Speed Figure for the effort. After a second-place finish in the Landaluce Stakes in June, Seduire scored her first stakes win in the Wine Country Debutante Stakes at Santa Rosa in front-running fashion.
Seduire tried graded company for the first time in August. The filly set the pace in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante before tiring to finish fifth in her first start on a synthetic surface. The winner of that race, Sunset Glow, would finish second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in October. After a second-place finish in the Anoakia Stakes, Seduire again proved her class when wiring the Golden Gate Debutante Stakes by 5 ½ lengths and earning a 101 speed figure. Finishing behind her was stablemate Lutine Belle, a filly who would annex the Blue Norther Stakes at Santa Anita in her next start.
In the Santa Ynez Seduire drew post one with eight fillies to her outside, leaving her little choice but to gun for the lead leaving the gate. Her speed served her well and she relaxed through quick fractions of :21.76 and :44.25. When Xoxo inched closer near the top of the lane, jockey Rafael Bejarano asked Seduire to extend herself and she responded willingly, spurting away to win by 2 ¼ lengths in 1:15.37 for 6 ½ furlongs.
SEDUIRE AFTER HER SANTA YNEZ VICTORY

Photo by Benoit Photo
Running Style
Seduire’s winning has all been done on the front end to this point, a style that could prove problematic if she is unable to adjust to traffic trouble or a poor post. However, her high cruising speed displayed in the Santa Ynez indicates she could be a very dangerous filly if left alone and allowed to dictate a slower pace. She has also never won beyond 6 ½ furlongs, with her farthest attempt the 7-furlong Del Mar Debutante in August that saw her finish fifth of nine. Hollendorfer has not committed to stretching her out around two turns, though her pedigree suggests she might be able to carry her speed longer distances.
Pedigree
Seduire was purchased by owner Regis Farms as a weanling at the 2012 Keeneland November Sale for $130,000. The Elusive Quality filly is the first foal out of her dam, Holy Eclair, and she has more than earned back her purchase price already.
Elusive Quality is a leading sire whose offspring include five champions and 110 stakes winners as of Jan. 5. Chief among them are 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones, 2008 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Raven’s Pass and 2010 Donn Handicap and Whitney winner Quality Road, so Elusive Quality is an accomplished sire of foals that can get a route of ground.
ELUSIVE QUALITY'S SMARTY JONES WINNING THE KENTUCKY DERBY

Photo by HorsePhotos
Holy Eclair was unraced herself, though her full sister Saintliness was a stakes winner around two turns, as was her half-sister Sly Butterfly. Saintliness captured the Affectionately at 1 1/16 miles and was runner-up in the Grade 2 Next Move Handicap at 1 1/8 miles while Sly Butterfly won the Memorial Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
Seduire’s second dam, Wild Lightning, was a multiple stakes winner around two turns, capturing several stakes at a mile or over. Wild Lightning’s half-sister Lacquaria was a stakes winner who finished second in the 1998 Hollywood Starlet behind Excellent Meeting. Their dam and Seduire’s third dam, Louisiana Flash, threw six additional winners from 10 other offspring that raced.
Though the bottom half of her pedigree is a little light on class, if Seduire can stretch her speed around two turns she could continue to make noise on the Kentucky Oaks trail.