Don't Leave Me Strong In Bourbonette Oaks

The 2015, $150,000 Bourbonette Oaks (G3) was a coming out party for the Pin Oak Stud homebred, Don’t Leave Me.  The daughter of Lemon Drop Kid was a picture of perfection in the paddock.  She was calm, cool, and collected, and ready to handle the field of classy sophomore fillies.

Making only the fourth start of her career and her seasonal debut, Don’t Leave Me proved her talent and affinity for the synthetic surface. She found trouble in two of her first three starts, she was bothered severely in a seven furlong turf sprint at Woodbine last August but found the grit and turn of foot to overcome the trouble to rally late and win. She was not so lucky in her last race as a two-year-old in the Natalma (G2) where she was again bothered at the start trailing the field before making a mild rally to finish sixth. 

Trainer Malcolm Pierce had Don't Leave Me working steadily since February, while boasting a pair of strong 48 second half mile works at Palm Meadows. Pierce originally had the Florida Oaks on his radar for this talented filly but when the race came up tough he opted for the Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park.

Don’t Leave Me was sent off at a little over 5/1 as the betting public keyed in on the Rusty Arnold filly Sweet Success, sending her off at odds of 2/1, the California shipper, Sharla Rae was the second choice at 7/2. 

Sweet Success broke from the gate running, quickly putting a length on the Bourbonette field.  Under the hands of Joel Rosario, Sweet Success led the group of three-year-old fillies through a quarter mile in 24.06 and a half mile in 47.84 Don’t Leave Me was slow to get into stride but well in hand sitting in ninth for Jose Lezcano. Sharla Rae showed a surprising amount of speed for young Drayden Van Dyke while sitting in second behind Sweet Success. As they reached the top of the stretch Sweet Success shook off Sharla Rae and began to spurt away just as Don’t Leave Me started a ferocious seven wide rally.  Sweet Success was game in the stretch but Don’t Leave Me left Sweet Success disappointed as she overtook her deep in the stretch to take the Bourbonette Oaks by 3/4’s of a length, finishing the mile in 1:38.60. The victory gave Jose Lezcano his first of two graded stakes wins on the day and three wins in all.

Don’t Leave Me proved she is a classy filly who is versatile, winning on synthetic and turf at Woodbine and winning a graded stake at Turfway.  Along with winning the Bourbonette she earned 50 points towards the Kentucky Oaks.   If Pin Oak chooses to send her to Kentucky she could be a serious contender.  Her pedigree suggest she will relish dirt, being a daughter of Lemon Drop Kid out of the (G1) winning mare See How She Runs who won the Selene (G1) and the Fantasy (G3). 

If Pin Oak decides to see how she runs in the Kentucky Oaks, Don’t Leave Me might do just that and leave the best three-year-old fillies in the nation behind her and take the glory in Kentucky.