On Fire Baby: Derby or Oaks?

On Fire Baby captured the third graded stakes win of her career in the Honeybee Stakes (gr.3) at Oaklawn Park on March 10^th and proved once again that she is one of the leading sophomore runners in the country. After her stellar juvenile campaign, which included a score in the Pocahontas Stakes (gr.2) and a runaway victory in the Golden Rod Stakes (gr.2), On Fire Baby tackled males in the Smarty Jones Stakes on January 16^th at Oaklawn Park. She finished a close and driving third after racing wide on both turns. Brought back to the company of fillies in the Honeybee Stakes by trainer Gary Hartlage this past Saturday, On Fire Baby returned to the winners circle with a convincing win.

 

A filly that always breaks well from the gate, On Fire Baby was away in the good order at the start of the Honeybee Stakes while Martha Washington Stakes winner, Amie’s Dini, broke best of all and led the field into the first turn. Strung about five wide entering the turn, On Fire Baby and jockey Joe Johnson moved up to be a close third behind Amie’s Dini and Rocket Twentyone as the field raced into the backstretch. Down the backstretch On Fire Baby moved up on the outside to run on even terms with Rocket Twentyone, less than a length off the flank of Amie’s Dini. With the far turn looming, On Fire Baby began to edge close to the lead, moving past Rocket Twentyone and cutting into the short lead of Amie’s Dini. Entering the turn Amie’s Dini quickened the tempo and On Fire Baby quickly matched speed, racing just a neck back in second as they sprinted two lengths clear of the field. Around the turn those two dueled for the lead, heads bobbing up and down, both fillies gathering for the final run down the homestretch. As they raced off the turn the whip came out on Amie’s Dini and both fillies surged fourth lengths clear of the field. Down the homestretch On Fire Baby pushed her game rival to the very edge, took the worst she could dish out and then took command as Amie’s Dini held onto a commanding second place advantage. The final 1/16 of a mile was all about On Fire Baby as she drew clear and won by two lengths, well in hand and looking strong.

 

 

 

On Fire Baby has proven to be consistent and tough as nails in her six race career thus far, winning all but one of her four juvenile starts when she ran 5^th to Stephanie’s Kitten in the Grade 1 Alcibiades on Polytrack and running third to males in a performance that has trainer Hartlage convinced the Smoke Glacken filly was not quite right. Now she has come back to her winning ways and looks very strong going forward. Hartlage and owner/breeders Anita Cauley are not afraid to test their talented filly against male competition as proven in the Smarty Jones, and now it seems they are considering even deeper waters with a possible start in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on April 14^th. The other option is the $300,000 Fantasy Stakes on April 11^th against fillies. After her Golden Rod Stakes romp last year Hartlage claimed this was the very best horse he has even trained. She is undefeated in both her Churchill Downs starts, and considering her spring goals are either the Kentucky Oaks or Kentucky Derby this year, that bodes very well for her. She has the rugged, heavy build and grinding running style that should serve her well as she stretches out to longer distances. Both the Kentucky Oaks and Derby are creeping up on racing fans. With just under eight weeks to go until the start of the classics contenders and pretenders will be cropping up on every side each and every weekend. Until we know what the goal is for On Fire Baby it’s hard to say where she fits on either list of Derby and Oaks contenders, but for theory sake let’s say she is heading for the Kentucky Oaks. If that is the case, she easily ranks in the top three contenders right now.

 

On another note Amie's Dini ran turned in a stellar performance in her runner-up Honeybee effort and will definitely be one to keep on the Kentucky Oaks radar. She has only compiled four lifetime starts, winning two and finishing second twice. On February 11th she upset the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park, defeating heavily favorted Now I Know. This filly tries hard, has plenty of talent and has shown the ability to win on the lead or rating comfortably behind.