A Baker’s Dozen for the 2015 Kentucky Oaks

1.  I’m A Chatterbox (Munnings--Chit Chatter, by Lost Soldier) – Before the Silverbulletday, this one was off the radar off most, but her performance in the eight length romp, over a deep field, was too good to ignore. Larry Jones knows good fillies, and this daughter of Munnings qualifies as a good one. While her juvenile season was no great shakes, she did show enough promise to believe that a little improvement could see her as a real Oaks contender. Her pedigree leans toward shorter distances, but seeing how she has already performed so well around two-turns, you’d have to believe that the nine furlongs of the 2015 Kentucky Oaks is within her scope.

2. Take Charge Brandi (Giant’s Causeway--Charming, by Seeking the Gold) – The lady is a champ. Whether you are completely sold by her four race winning streak, or how impressive she has been in each, you have to give the well bred, D. Wayne Lukas trained filly a great deal of credit for what she has been able to achieve in the last three-plus months. She takes the race to her opponents early and often, and then is a tigress in the late stages. Staying healthy, and having her connections choose the Oaks over the Derby, are the only questions between her being one of the ones to beat on the first Friday of May.

3. Birdatthewire (Summer Bird--My Limit, by Wagon Limit) – While the first two fillies on this list were speed types, this one is not. Like many distance bred youngsters, she took her time to win her maiden, finally sealing the deal in her fourth start, by scoring in  a two-turn maiden race at Churchill Downs. She followed up that success with an overpowering score, coming from way to back to win the Grade 2, seven furlong Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park. As a daughter of a Belmont winner, it is fully expected that her transition back to distance racing will be a smooth one.

4. Wonder Gal (Tiz Wonderful--Passe, by Dixie Union) – Last year, trainer Leah Gyarmati trained Sweet Reason to be one of the top fillies in the land. While that one was best around one-turn, in Wonder Gal Gyarmati may have a filly well suited for the distance of the Kentucky Oaks. Always well intended, she won a listed stakes race in her career debut, before competing well against some of the best in her division in successive graded stakes, including a good third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The granddaughter of Tiznow just returned to the worktab with a breeze at Belmont Park.

5. Callback (Street Sense--Quickest, by Forest Wildcat) – Another Beholder for Spendthrift Farm? Not yet, but the daughter of the 2007 Kentucky Derby winner did impress in winning the recent Grade 1 Las Virgenes in her fourth career start. She has improved with each and every start, and in her latest, she demonstrated the talent and the heart to repulse multiple challengers. That race was only a mile, but two-turns, and I have a feeling if they went around again, no one was going to pass her. There could be something to the Beholder comparison.

6. Condo Commando (Tiz Wonderful--Yearly Report, by General Meeting) - I must admit, this one is a bit of an enigma. She began her career in maiden claiming, but won it like a stakes horse. She stepped right up to win the Grade 1 Spinaway in a runaway, but how much of that was the sloppy, sealed racetrack? At odds-on in the Frizette, she could only manage fourth on another sloppy track, but bounced back from that to draw off to another huge victory, this time in the two-turn Demoiselle. I’m still not sure exactly how good she is, but clearly, she is a major talent.

7. West Coast Belle (Tapit--Splendid Solution, by Unbridled’s Song) – After winning each of her three starts, including two stakes at Churchill Downs, as a juvenile in smart style, I expected a bit more from the daughter of Tapit in the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds. No one was beating I’m A Chatterbox that day, but this one probably should have gotten up for second place money. Having said that, she did not miss second by much, and after last year’s results, I have every reason to believe that she will improve for her second start of 2015.

8. Puca (Big Brown--Boat’s Ghost, by Silver Ghost) – I’m not big on the name, but I believe this one has a lot of talent under the hood. She improved in each of her three maiden attempts on the East Coast to the point where she became a winner by routing the field by a pole at Belmont Park. Off that maiden win, she shipped cross-country for a shot at the Breeders’ Cup, and despite only finishing sixth, I thought she ran a very good race. Beaten only three lengths or so, after being way back early, Puca could have been a whole lot closer with a cleaner trip. She has been training steadily in South Florida for her return for trainer, Bill Mott.

9. Feathered (Indian Charlie--Receipt, by Dynaformer) – Bred for speed on top, and for stamina on the bottom, this filly from the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners has done little wrong in her five lifetime starts, culminating with a pair of competitive defeats to the champion in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and the Starlet. Still a winner of only a maiden, she did a solid job of proving her class without actually winning a stakes race in 2014. Can she get by Take Charge Brandi this year? She will only need to improve a little more than that one to thrust her name into the ring as one of this year’s big girls. She also has been training steadily in South Florida for her return for trainer, Todd Pletcher.

10. Top Decile (Congrats--Sequoia Queen, by Forestry) – Much like West Coast Belle, her effort in the Silverbulletday was disappointing. After three excellent runs at two, the sixth place finish just did not fit. She will have to right the ship, and prove that her lone appearance as a three-year-old was just a bad day, because another performance like that one would likely take her out of serious consideration for the Oaks. Having said that, I liked her too much last year, including her race in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, where she easily could have run with better racing luck, to give up on her just yet.

11. Sarah Sis (Sharp Humor--Emerald Gal, by Gilded Time) – Twice a winner at two, Sarah Sis has yet to find the winner’s circle in 2015 after a pair of starts at Oaklawn Park, but not for a lack of trying. In both races, the six furlong Dixie Belle, and the one mile Martha Washington, she ran big, and was a tough luck loser. In the last one, she proved her class by throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Take Charge Brandi with a strong rally. A breakthrough victory for the Ingrid Mason trained filly should not be too far in the future.

12. Promise Me Silver (Silver City--Uno Mas Promesa, by Macho Uno) – It is not just Take Charge Brandi who has the market cornered on winning stakes races in this division. This Texas-bred already has won four, and like Take Charge Brandi, she has also done it at four different tracks. She’ll be looking for her sixth win without a loss Saturday in a minor stakes race at Sam Houston, and will likely get it. Already proven fast and tough, distance will be the question. I’m not sure if nine furlongs will be in the cards for her, but as young fillies go, this one has already proven to be one tough hombrette, so I wouldn’t put it past her. 13. Include Betty (Include--Betty’s Solutions, by Eltish) – Little Miss Silky Sullivan. Since arriving this year a maiden to Tampa Bay Downs, this chestnut filly has come from the absolute clouds twice in succession to inhale her competition, first in a maiden race, and then in the recent Suncoast Stakes. If there is a pace meltdown in the Oaks, this filly might be one to remember. Having said that, the Tom Proctor trained filly is going to have to prove that her electrifying late run works outside of Tampa, and of course, against much stiffer competition.