Knock Knock - Arlington’s Saturday Feature – the Arlington Oaks!

Some of the best female three year olds in the country take to the Polytrack at Arlington on Saturday for the Grade 3 $150,000 Arlington Oaks! This race shaped up to be a pretty good field as 8 head postward in this 9 furlong battle. Let’s analyze this race…

La Tia has had a perfect 2012 campaign thus far and it seems she has just figured out how to win. Her last two starts were against state-bred competition as she broke her maiden by 9 lengths then destroyed the field in the Purple Violet Stakes by over 8 lengths. Not bad so far, right? She makes her first trip around two turns but with grandfathers like Storm Cat and Sky Classic, I think she should be able to handle the distance just fine. If she can get loose on the lead and slow down the pace, she might be able to take this one.

The morning line favorite Treasured Up, son of Medaglia D’oro, didn’t miss by much in the Grade 3 Regret at Churchill Downs back on June 16^th. She is rested and has posted some good work outs for trainer Al Stall. Miguel Mena gets the mount and wins 25% of his races for conditioner Stall. So obviously this horse is the class of the field, right? She definitely seems to be improving and at the right time as well. We’ll see how her recent turf form translates back over to the Polytrack.

Breeders’ Cup hopeful from last season, Ann of the Dance, has had trouble winning since her allowance victory at Arlington last summer. However she now shows a pattern I like, and that’s a three year old improving each start off of the break. If she improves in this race, she could win and likely at a nice price for trainer Wayne Catalano.

The final horse I’m taking a look at here is Sky Dreamer (out of a Monarchos mare). While she hasn’t faced the stiffest of competition she really seemed to like the two turns on Polytrack at Woodbine. Trainer Mark Casse must think she has a great shot to win as he is sending her here all the way from the Great White North!

I’m excited to see how this one turns out! My heart is pulling for the Illinois-bred La Tia so I hope she represents Chicago well on the lead and into the winners circle!

Who do you like in this race?