Carribean Sunset Stands Out in American Oaks Field
Carribean Sunset, a multiple Group winner who was beaten a half-length while being awarded third in the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas two starts back at The Curragh, heads a four-horse European contingent in a field of 12 fillies for the seventh running of the $750,000 American Oaks on Saturday at Hollywood Park.
The Irish-bred daughter of Danehill Dancer — conditioned by renowned Irish trainer Dermot Weld — won back-to-back Group 3 races in Ireland before finishing fourth in the Guineas. She was moved up to third following a disqualification.
Carribean Sunset also finished third in her next and most recent start — the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Ascot on June 20. She will make her North Amercian debut in the Oaks with earnings of $402,807.
The Grade I race, an invitational event at 1¼ miles on the Lakeside Turf Course, also drew three fillies from Kentucky, two from New York and three from Southern California. The field lines up as follows from the rail out with jockey and odds:
Pure Clan, Julien Leparoux, 7/2 on the morning line; Magical Fantasy, Alex Solis, 20-1; Satan’s Circus, Ioritz Mendizabal, 8-1; Raw Silk, Alan Garcia, 6-1; Clearly Foxy, Garrett Gomez, 8-1; Bel Air Sizzle, Rafael Bejarano, 6-1; Annie Skates, John Egan, 10-1; Missit, Victor Espinoza, 12-1; Carribean Sunset, Patrick Smullen, 9/2; Backseat Rhythm, Javier Castellano, 20-1; Zaskar, David Flores, 20-1, and My Baby Baby, Brice Blanc, 12-1. All carry 121 pounds.
Pure Clan, the third-place finisher in the Kentucky Oaks, remained undefeated on turf with a 2¾-length triumph June 14 in the Regret Stakes at Churchill Downs and was made the morning-line favorite by odds-maker Russ Hudak. The Bob Holthus-trained daughter of Pure Prize won her first two starts on turf before being moved to the dirt for five starts, scoring her biggest win in the Grade II Golden Rod at Churchill Downs last November. The chestnut enters the Oaks with five wins in eight starts and earnings of $552,416.
Raw Silk, trained by Thomas Albertrani, ships in from New York fresh from a victory in the Grade II Sands Point at Belmont Park. She has finished first in three of four starts on turf, but was disqualified from her first victory on the surface last fall at Aqueduct.
Irish-bred Missit, Magical Fantasy and California-bred Bel Air Sizzle represent locally-based outfits. Missit won the Providencia for trainer Ben Cecil in April and was fourth as the favorite in the nine-furlong Honeymoon Handicap — the last major local stepping-stone to the Oaks. Bel Air Sizzle finished second in the Honeymoon, beaten less than one length, while Magical Fantasy finished fifth after losing the Senorita by a nose in May.
Clearly Foxy, who won the Group 3 Natalma last September at Woodbine in Canada, has won three of four starts on turf — the latest a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Churchill Downs.
My Baby Baby also ships from Churchill, where the daughter of Bernstein posted a 5 ¾-length victory in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on June 4. Prior to that, she was runner-up in the Edgewood Stakes on turf.
Backseat Rhythm, third in the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, is a second shipper from New York. She has won two of three starts on turf, including a six-length victory at 1¼ miles in a Belmont Park allowance race in her most recent start.
Annie Skates, Satan’s Circus and Zaskar complete the four-horse European contingent.
Annie Skates, trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam, has only won once in seven starts, but she finished second last year in the Epitome Stakes at Monmouth Park on the Breeders’ Cup undercard. She finished second and third, respectively, in her two most recent starts — both in listed stakes in Great Britain at 1¼ miles.
Satan’s Circus, a winner of four of eight starts in France, finished fifth June 1 in the French Oaks at Chantilly. The daughter of Gone West, from the stable of Jean-Claude Rouget, has won at 1 5/16 miles.
Great Britain-bred Zaskar has won three races and also has a second in five starts. She is a winner at the Oaks distance. With the exception of her most recent start — a second-place finish at 1 7/16 miles in France — all of her races have been in Great Britain.
The Oaks will run as the ninth race on Saturday’s 11-race program, which also includes the $750,000 CashCall Mile and three other graded stakes. First post is at 12 noon.




