Desormeaux likes Majestic Quality's chances in Summertime Oaks
{{monthName}} {{day}}, {{year}} {{hour12}}:{{minuteTwoDigit}}{{dayPeriod}}
Photo:
Benoit Photo
John Keith Desormeaux, whose victories with outsiders are a matter of record, hopes to add to his longshot resume with maiden winner Majestic Quality in Saturday’s Grade II Summertime Oaks at a mile and a sixteenth.
A bay daughter of Quality Road, Majestic Quality came out of an eventful fifth-place finish in the Grade I Santa Anita Oaks on April 8 to win by nearly seven lengths on May 21.
Desormeaux knows she has her work cut out for her Saturday.
“I couldn’t be asking for her to be doing any better,” the trainer said. “I could ask for it to be a little easier field, though. The race came up kind of tough, but we’re in Southern California and it’s supposed to be that way. After all, it is a Grade II.
“But she’s coming into it in great shape and she got a big Beyer (91) in her last race.
“As long as my bad-riding brother (a kindly knock at his kin, Hall of Fame jockey Kent) can give her a good trip, we’ll be all right.”
MOPOTISM HAPPY TO BE HOME FOR GRADE II OAKS
Team O’Neill expects improvement from Mopotism Saturday when the daughter of UncleMo trained by Doug O’Neill for Reddam Racing runs in the Grade II Summertime Oaks.
The bay filly was in tight early when finishing 10th by nearly 20 lengths to Abel Tasman in the Kentucky Oaks on a sloppy Churchill Downs track May 5.
“The track that day was not made for every horse, certainly not for her,” reasoned O’Neill assistant Leandro Mora. “She didn’t enjoy it, but she’s very happy here, training beautifully, and I expect good things from her.”
The Oaks, race nine of 10: Goseecal, Martin Pedroza, 30-1; Spooky Woods, Flavien Prat, 15-1; It Tiz Well, Mike Smith, 7-2; Sheza Chattykat, Corey Nakatani, 15-1; Selcourt, Tyler Baze, 6-1; Faypien, Rafael Bejarano, 7-2; Majestic Quality, Kent Desormeaux, 5-1; Noted and Quoted, Martin Garcia, 3-1; and Mopotism, Mario Gutierrez, 6-1.
Source: Santa Anita Park
Read More
Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs drew a compact but competitive field of seven fillies...
Last week, I mentioned that as many as seven Eclipse races still have debate swirling around them. I...
Touch Gold , winner of the 1997 Belmont Stakes, was euthanized at the age of 31 because of...
With the Angels , a 3-year-old filly trained by Linda Rice, will try to go 6-for-6 with her...
This week on HorseCenter , Brian Zipse and Matt Shifman take to the turf and visit Aqueduct for a...