Horse Racing Tote brings you all the details about the graded races, lets check out the Saratoga Oaks Recap. Well, they can’t say they weren’t warned. Con Lima is no Knicks Go, sure, but she’s dynamite when allowed an uncontested lead, and the inexplicable lack of attention from her rivals allowed the filly to run away with the $700,000 Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational at the Spa on Sunday.
On her previous start; Con Lima made a bold bid to go gate to wire in the Belmont Oaks, and only the excellent Santa Barbara could prevent her from doing so. There was nothing of the Irish filly’s caliber in this upstate Oaks; so when we saw Con Lima bowling along at the head of affairs under Flavien Prat it quickly became obvious that the race was hers to lose. She didn’t lose it; covering the mile-and-three-sixteenths on turf in 1:54 and two-fifths and paying out at $8.10 to those who could read the writing on the wall.
“You could see when she turned up the backside and her ears were flicking back and forth that she was in a happy zone,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher.
The closest any rival ever came to the winner was at the line, where Higher Truth – who had finished a nose behind Con Lima in the Belmont Oaks – got within three-quarters of a length. Creative Flair, who might have pressed Con Lima on the lead had she broken at all alertly; proved much the better of the two European raiders, taking the third spot a length and a half further back.
Con Lima, who has only once been off the board in 13 starts; with seven wins; is a likely starter in the third leg of the Turf Triple, the Jockey Club Oaks at Belmont next month. Here’s a wild suggestion to anyone thinking of taking her on: don’t let her loose on the lead; because she won’t come back.
Adirondack Stakes
It was like a mother, as a daughter in the $200,000 Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes for juvenile fillies; as Wicked Halo ran out an easy winner of the six-furlong contest to emulate her dam Just Wicked; successful in the Adirondack in 2015. The connection didn’t end there: both fillies are owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and trained by Steve Asmussen.
Wicked Halo, a daughter of gun first-crop sire Gun Runner, contested the lead with Microbiome for the first half-mile and kept going under Jose Ortiz as that horse dropped away. Widening her advantage in the deep stretch until it reached three and a half lengths at the line; stopping the clock in a blink under 1:18. The dashing grey paid out at $11.40; Interstatedaydream closed late for second, with Saucy Lady T closing even later for third.
“For her to duplicate what her mother did is very special,” said Asmussen, who had earlier gone clear in the all-time US standings, ahead of Dale Baird, with winner 9,446 of a remarkable career. “She was tough, there, that’s a level of class that is hard to come by.”
Wicked Halo is likely to sidestep the obvious target of the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at the Spa next month. Asmussen considering the filly in need of a break before heading for the bright lights of the Breeders’ Cup.
Make sure to check Horse Racing Tote for all the latest horse news; weekend races results, racetrack entries, and so much more. For current fixed horse betting odds check Racebook Tote