Churchill: La Cara wins Ky. Oaks prep; upset in Locust Grove

La Cara validated her runaway, maiden victory last month at Saratoga with a come-from-behind, three-quarter-length victory over Liam in the Dust on Saturday in the 56th running of the Grade 3, $300,000 Pocahontas Stakes, the first points race on the road to the 2025 Kentucky Oaks (G1).

A Tracy Farmer homebred, La Cara ran the one-turn mile in 1:37.82 for jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. and trainer Mark Casse.

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A Kentucky-bred daughter of Street Sense out of the Bernardini mare Cara Caterina, La Cara banked $171,945 for the win and 10 qualifying points toward the Oaks on May 2. Points were awarded Saturday to the top five finishers on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale.

Breaking from post 3 in the field of 14 2-year-old fillies, La Cara was away from the gate a bit slowly and found herself in mid-pack up the backstretch as Stilettos and Kimchi Cat set a pace of 22.70 and 46.33 seconds.

In her previous start on Aug. 11 at Saratoga, La Cara led every step of the way en route to an eight-length first victory in a seven-furlong maiden special weight. She handled the adversity Saturday just fine.

After being positioned in 11th through the first quarter-mile, La Cara advanced her way into seventh at the half-mile call along the rail and tipped out to fifth with a quarter-mile to run. In the clear on the outside at the top of the stretch, she began to hit her best stride.

La Cara grabbed the lead at the eighth pole and outran Liam in the Dust and Icona Mama to the wire.

“She was so impressive winning last time at Saratoga that I had a lot of confidence in her today,” Santana said. “She’s still learning and improving. I don’t see why she can’t handle going two turns with as impressive as she’s been her last two starts.”

La Cara, now 5: 2-1-0 with $258,520 in total earnings, paid $12.72, $7.44 and $5.36 at odds of 5-1. Liam in the Dust, second under Luis Sáez at 9-1, returned $11.18 and $7.12. Icona Mama, with Florent Géroux aboard, was another head back in third and paid $11.14 to show at odds of 30-1. Pretty Sure and Atomic City picked up the last of the Oaks qualifying points available Saturday.

Empirical Mischief, Strong State, Hearts United, Chattanooga Crew, Stilettos, Quinn’s Promise, West Memorial, Lady Kathryn and 7-2 favorite Kimchi Cat completed the finish in that order. Claire’s Charm and Good Cheer were scratched.

Musical Mischief stuns in Locust Grove

Musical Mischief overcame traffic trouble at the top of the stretch and shot through an opening at the three-sixteenths pole to power home and score a 16-1 upset in the 40th running of the $400,000 Locust Grove (G2) for fillies and mares with a 3 1/4-length triumph over 43-1 long shot Corningstone.

Shotgun Hottie, the 6-5 favorite, was another half-length back in third.

Owned by Stoneway Farm, trained by Michael McCarthy and ridden by Édgar Morales, Musical Mischief ran 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:42.91.

Free Like a Girl dictated the early pace of 24.16 and :48.29 as Pigalle chased from the outside and Musical Mischief tracked in third along the rail. Around the far turn after six furlongs in 1:12.17, Free Like A Girl began to tire.

Musical Mischief was positioned just behind the fading leader but had nowhere to run, and Morales was forced to check hard at the quarter pole. Soon after, a seam opened between Free Like A Girl and Pigalle, and Musical Mischief surged past them with an eighth of a mile to run and widened her margin down the stretch for the surprise victory.

“When she ran (fourth) last time at Ellis in the Groupie Doll, we thought the flat mile might be a bit too short for her that day,” Morales said. “She still ended up running well, but we had a lot of confidence in her that she’d improve going two turns today. She was loaded turning for home. I waited a little bit at the rail to try and find room. Once we got outside, and she got clear running room, she just took off.”

Musical Mischief, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Into Mischief out of the Bellamy Road mare Sophia’s Song, returned $35.64, $17.26 and $7.48. Corningstone, ridden by Julien Leparoux, returned $29.68 and $9.22. Shotgun Hottie, with José Ortiz up, paid $2.40 to show. Pigalle was fourth and was followed by Taxed, Loved, Hoosier Philly and Free Like a Girl.

The victory was worth $240,420 to Musical Mischief and increased her earnings to $515,024 with a record of 12: 4-2-1. This was the first stakes win of her career.

“Early in the winter she really wasn’t herself, so we sent her home, and when she came back here in Kentucky, she was back to her old self,” McCarthy said. “Today three furlongs from home, I could tell she was loaded. Édgar did a great job to bide his time and be as patient as he could. It really paid off.”