Kentucky Oaks: Matareya wins last prep; see who may be in
Godolphin’s homebred Matareya put away the pace-setting Lady Scarlet at the top of the stretch and drew off to score an 8 1/2-length victory at Keeneland on Sunday in the 37th running of the Grade 3, $400,000 Beaumont Stakes, the last Kentucky Oaks points prep of 2021-22.
Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Flavien Prat, Matareya completed the seven furlongs over a fast track in 1:27.55. It was the first Beaumont victory for Cox and Prat. It also was the second stakes victory of the opening weekend of the 15-day spring meet for Cox and the third for Prat.
Matareya grabbed the lead at the start, but Lady Scarlet pushed through on the inside to lead the field through fractions of 22.87 and 46.61 seconds.
On the far turn, Matareya began to creep closer and drew on even terms at the top of the stretch at which point Prat took a quick peek over his right shoulder to see if any pursuers were coming. No one was. Matareya and Prat had an unpressured run to the wire.
Click here for Keeneland entries and results.
The victory was worth $241,800 and increased Matareya’s earnings to $374,267 with a record of 6: 3-2-0.
Matareya is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Pioneerof the Nile out of the Bernardini mare Innovative Idea. She returned $4.20, $2.60 and $2.40.
Radio Days, ridden by Joel Rosario, returned $3.40 and $3 and finished 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Reagan’s Decision, who paid $4.60 to show under Luis Saez. Lady Scarlet finished another three-quarters of a length back in fourth and was followed in order by Majestic d’Oro, Gina Romantica and Chi Town Lady.
The Beaumont was worth only 10-4-2-1 qualifying points toward the Oaks. None of the seven fillies in Sunday’s race was in contention to be among the 14 in the gate at Churchill Downs on May 6.
These are the final qualifying standings for the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks shown with points, earnings in non-restricted stakes, trainers and sires. Fillies shown with an “x” may be included in late nominations that close Friday at a cost of $1,500 each.
| Rk. | Horse | Pts. | *Earnings | Trainer | Sire |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kathleen O. | 150 | $335,730 | Shug McGaughey | Upstart |
| 2 | Echo Zulu | 130 | $1,665,000 | Steve Asmussen | Gun Runner |
| 3 | Nest | 120 | $573,550 | Todd Pletcher | Curlin |
| 4 | Yuugiri | 114 | $508,050 | Rodolphe Brisset | Shackleford |
| 5 | Desert Dawn | 108 | $328,000 | Phil D'Amato | Cupid |
| 6 | Nostalgic | 101 | $590,500 | Bill Mott | Medaglia d'Oro |
| 7 | Venti Valentine | 94 | $100,000 | Jorge Abreu | Firing Line |
| 8 | Secret Oath | 80 | $436,707 | D. Wayne Lukas | Arrogate |
| 9 | Goddess of Fire | 62 | $154,375 | Todd Pletcher | Mineshaft |
| 10 | Turnerloose | 60 | $516,700 | Brad Cox | Nyquist |
| 11 | Hidden Connection | 57 | $369,525 | Bret Calhoun | Connect |
| 12 | Cocktail Moments | 52 | $144,700 | Kenny McPeek | Uncle Mo |
| 13 | Candy Raid | 51 | $154,320 | Keith Desormeaux | Candy Ride |
| x | Cleopatras Charge | 50 | $182,250 | Gary Cross | Will Take Charge |
| 14 | Shahama | 50 | $180,000 | Todd Pletcher | Munnings |
| 15 | Shotgun Hottie | 41 | $89,000 | Bill Morey | Gun Runner |
| x | Adare Manor | 40 | $200,000 | Tim Yakteen | Uncle Mo |
| 16 | Ain't Easy | 40 | $180,000 | Phil D'Amato | Into Mischief |
| x | Beguine | 40 | $120,000 | Dan Peitz | Gun Runner |
| 17 | Bubble Rock | 30 | $237,480 | Brad Cox | More Than Ready |
| 18 | Classy Edition | 30 | $54,200 | Todd Pletcher | Classic Empire |
| 19 | Awake At Midnyte | 24 | $118,875 | Doug O'Neill | Nyquist |
| 20 | Magic Circle | 23 | $143,000 | Steve Asmussen | Kantharos |
| 21 | Interstatedaydream | 20 | $88,125 | Brad Cox | Classic Empire |
| x | Ali Alley | 20 | $71,700 | Nancy Summers | Quality Road |
| 22 | Favor | 20 | $40,000 | Todd Pletcher | Pioneerof the Nile |
| 23 | Juju's Map | 18 | $580,000 | Brad Cox | Liam's Map |
| 24 | Sequist | 2 | $126,000 | Dallas Stewart | Nyquist |
| * Non-restricted stakes | |||||
| x Not nominated |