I'm a Chatterbox Making Noise on Oaks Trail
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Fletcher and Carolyn Gray’s I’m a Chatterbox went from a prime candidate for a bounce to bouncing all over her opposition a second time when shifting strategies and closing from last in the Grade III $175,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes. In a style that almost mocked her rivals in its disparity from her eight-length gate-to-wire romp in the Listed $125,000 Silverbulletday Stakes five weeks prior, the daughter of Munnings not only made herself the favorite for the Fair Grounds meet centerpiece for sophomore fillies, the Grade II $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks, but also earned enough ‘street cred’ to garner an 8-1 odds line in the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.
The husband and wife training team of Larry and Cindy Jones also finished second in the Rachel Alexandra with Brereton C. Jones’ Lovely Maria, who made a valiant move at the top of the stretch to seize the lead from the third Jones-trained competitor, Calumet Farm’s White Clover, only to lose by 2½ lengths after chasing a legitimate pace of :23.19 and :46.98. While I’m a Chatterbox exited the event in fine form and moves forward to Mar. 28, such is not certain for Lovely Maria, who may wait another week for the Grade I $500,000 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, where she may be joined by another stablemate, Tommy Ligon and Michael Pressley’s Divine Dawn.
Aside from the overflowing filly fountain that is the Jones barn, another excellent performance was that of Charles Fipke homebred Forever Unbridled, who once again proved her class when finishing a game third – a neck behind Lovely Maria – while four-wide on both turns. A big, rangy filly, the Dallas Stewart-trained daughter of Kentucky Oaks winner Lemons Forever is likely to take another stab at I’m a Chatterbox in the Fair Grounds Oaks after also finishing a distant second behind her in the Silverbulletday. Stewart was quick to point out after the race that the eight lengths by which his filly lost five weeks prior shrunk to just under three this time around and he hopes the lightly raced daughter of Unbridled’s Song keeps closing the gap as she traipses toward possibly emulating her dam on the first Friday in May.
Two well-regarded gray fillies who ran poorly in the Rachel Alexandra and now may or may not persist on to the Fair Grounds Oaks are Regis Racing’s Steve Asmussen-trained Shook Up and Gary and Mary West’s West Coast Belle, who finished a length apart in fifth and sixth. Both had every chance to become a factor and announce themselves as serious Kentucky Oaks candidates going into the race, but unfortunately each left an impression as cloudy as their coats.
Source: Fair Grounds Press Release
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