Giant Oak Rolls from Bridesmaid to Star of the Week

How does a horse go from finishing first in one out of nineteen starts the past two calendar years to becoming one of the most respected older horses in the country in a time span of less than two minutes? Yesterday we found the answer, as the long untapped potential of Giant Oak exploded down the Gulfstream Park stretch, and in so doing, rocketed his name up the early list of potential Breeders’ Cup Classic contenders.
 
Virginia H. Tarra Trust’s Giant Oak is a five-year-old Illinois bred son of Giant's Causeway, out of Crafty Oak, by Crafty Prospector. He became a grade one winner late last Fall when his number was placed first by Churchill stewards in the Clark Handicap, after race winner Successful Dan was disqualified for bothering others in the field. It was not exactly the way anyone wants to earn their first grade one, but for a horse who was 0 for 9 going into the race, it was a most welcome mark in the win column. Yesterday’s Donn erased all doubts as to whether he was actually a legitimate grade one horse though, as he blitzed the leaders down the lane to score by two lengths under rider Shaun Bridgmohan. The decisive rallying victory came at the expense of high class horses like Morning Line, Rule, I Want Revenge, and Fly Down.  Including the Clark placed first, it is the first time Giant Oak has put together consecutive wins since the first two races of his life two and a half years ago.
 
That was the thing about Giant Oak. He looks great, and would often show flashes of real ability, but he just would not win. That appears to  be changing. In winning for the 5th time in 24 lifetime starts, Giant Oak finally fulfilled potential that many had seen in the attractive well bred colt since those debut races so long ago. He also raised his now impressive career bankroll to $1,256,677. He is also now clearly in the best form of his life, and with the ability to run well on any surface, and handle any distance, there is no telling what heights the Chris Block trained horse might reach in 2011. The way he easily handled some of the best older horses in the nation in yesterday’s grade one affair was an eye-opener.
 
[Does Giant Oak rank high enough in the HRN list of active horses?]
 
In fact, I was so impressed with Giant Oak’s performance in the Donn, that he earns the nod as ZATT’s Star of the Week, and considering the impressiveness in which Twirling Candy displayed in winning the Strub, this is high praise indeed.

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