Potential for Princess Arabella at Sunland

 
Last year Plum Pretty put the once obscure Sunland Park Oaks on the map with a massive 25 length romp that preceded a game winning effort in the Kentucky Oaks just six weeks later. This year Princess Arabella will attempt to tread the same path to Kentucky Oaks glory as she headlines a field of seven fillies in at Sunland Park on Saturday.
 
Feisty Flirt breaks from the inside post and attempts the 1 1/16 mile distance for the first time. She has won two of her six career starts, a maiden race at Zia Park last September and an allowance score in the middle of December at Sunland Park. Both wins came at the six furlong distance. Her most recent start was an uninspiring 5th place finish in the Island Fashion Stakes on February 26th at the 1 mile distance. Her last four works have been exceptionally slow.
 
Sophisticated broke her maiden by more than 6 lengths in her most recent start at Sunland Park on March 10th which means she’ll be returning off just 12 days rest. It took the Comic Strip filly three starts to break her maiden but she made it count once she did. Her first two maiden efforts were runner up efforts that saw her finish more than 5 lengths ahead of the third place finisher both times. She provides an intriguing element to the race but with just one maiden victory on her record and jumping from 5 ½ furlongs to 1 1/16 miles, it’s asking a lot to expect a winning effort.
 
Princess Arabella is the star of the Sunland Park Oaks show and for good reason. The daughter of Any Given Saturday is undefeated in just two races at Santa Anita Park but those two efforts against maidens and an allowance field came with such brilliant ease, that she immediately moved into the top tier of most Kentucky Oaks watch lists. Since her allowance romp on February 12th she has turned in three sparkling works for trainer Bob Baffert, including a :59.00 flat 5 furlong move on March 9th. She’ll be stretching out to 1 1/16 miles for the first time but her pedigree and performance up till now indicates there should be no problem as the distance lengthens. She looks like a winner.
 
Take Me Away Today breaks from post number four and enters off a 4th place finish in the Island Fashion Stakes, almost eight lengths ahead of Feisty Flirt in 5th. Two starts back she won the El Paso Times Stakes at Sunland Park by 2 ¼ lengths after a slow start and a wide trip. Her latest work was a 5 furlong move completed in 1:01.60.
 
Glinda the Good could provide the biggest challenge to Princess Arabella. She is the most experienced runner in the field at facing graded stakes competition and enters off a strong 3 ½ length victory in the Island Fashion Stakes over the same Sunland Park dirt strip. She finished 2nd to Grace Hall in the Blue Hen Stakes last October before a 3rd place run in the Pocahontas Stakes (gr.2) and a 6th place finish in the Golden Rod Stakes (gr.2) to finish out her juvenile campaign. The Hard Spun filly has turned in a few moderate works for trainer Steve Asmussen with the latest move being a slow :49.20 half mile move. She has plenty of room to improve and a good juvenile foundation to fall back on.
 
Ize in Trouble has made just three career starts. She broke her maiden at first asking by 2 lengths at Sunland Park on December 16th. In her second start she overcame a rough start to just miss winning by a neck after producing a good rally in the stretch. Her last start was a second place finish to Glinda the Good in the Island Fashion Stakes where she finished more the four lengths in front of the third place finisher. There are no recorded works since the Island Fashion Stakes so she could be coming into the race short.
 
Regal Betty breaks from the far outside post and enters fresh off a victory in the Arizona Oaks on February 25th. Prior to the Oaks she finished 5th in the Miesque and Sharp Cat Stakes and 6th in the Oak Leaf Stakes. She has turned in two good works at Hollywood Park for trainer John Sadler, including a 1.00.60 five furlong move.
 
Appearances can sometimes be deceiving, but in this instance I think Princess Arabella has the potential to produce a very comfortable win. There is little doubt she has an abundance of talent and could make a very exciting Kentucky Oaks prospect if she immerges from the Sunland Park Oaks in good order. 

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