Kentucky Oaks prep: The Alys Look wins Silverbulletday

The Brad Cox-trained duo of The Alys Look (2-1) and Chop Chop (4-5) pulled away from the pack Saturday to finish one-two in that order in the $150,000 Silverbulletday, a qualifying prep at Fair Grounds for the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Owned by Ike and Dawn Thrash, The Alys Look pressed frontrunner Hayunevno from the two-path as the early leader clocked early calls of 24.37 and 48.08 seconds. Never keeping her stablemate out of sight, Chop Chop stalked three wide as The Alys Look eagerly took the lead in the second turn. Chop Chop continued to lose ground, drifting from the four path to the nine path while grasping for The Alys Look, who embraced the challenge and proved her staying power.

Click here for Fair Grounds entries and results.

The two Cox fillies finished a far cry ahead of Hayunevano who held on for third, 14 1/2 lengths back.

The Alysa Look was clocked at 1:43.55 for the one mile and 70 yards. Under jockey Luis Saez, she earned 20 points toward a potential run in the Kentucky Oaks. Combined with the four points she earned finishing second to Pretty Mischievous in December’s Untapable, the Connect filly out of the Harlan’s Holiday dam Foul Play has 24 qualifying points, second only to Wonder Wheel, who has banked 40.

“The plan was to break sharply from there, and she did,” Saez said. “We were in a great spot. She was pretty game, too. When we came to the top of the stretch, she didn’t want to let (Chop Chop) go by. She tried hard.”

In what was the third race of her form cycle, The Alys Look may have had a fitness edge on Chop Chop, who hadn’t run since finishing last as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland.

“It’s a combination of both,” Cox said when asked if the Aly’s Look really stepped up or if Chop Chop needs to take a step forward. “Chop Chop may have needed the race. She was freshened up a little bit since the Breeders’ Cup. She had been training well and gave us the confidence to run her today, and she ran well. Proud of the effort.

“The Aly’s Look has that one race at Churchill in the mud with blinkers on. She was rank early, you’ve got to draw a line through that race. She’s a good filly. She really showed some determination and grit the last sixteenth of a mile today, and I think we have to make a march towards the (Kentucky) Oaks. We will see how she comes out of it.”

Chop Chop’s second-place finish added eight qualifying points to the four she earned finishing second to Wonder Wheel in the Alcibiades (G1). The City of Light filly was ridden by Florent Geroux.

“(Chop Chop) had run close to the pace before, but I wasn’t trying to get to the lead,” Geroux said. “She went perfect, a little bit wider than I would’ve liked. She felt great and tried hard. I was right by the winner but just couldn’t run her down. My filly got a little bit tired. Maybe she needed a race. She hadn’t run since the Breeders’ Cup, and the winner had two recent races. I’m hoping next time with a race under belt, she can move forward.”

Hayunevano earned six Oaks points for a total of eight.  Forest Chimes finished fourth and kicked started her Oaks run with four points. Cotton Candy Annie came in fifth and gathered two points. Amber Cascade and Norah G completed the order of finish.

The first-place prize of $90,000 brought The Alys Look’s earnings to $$150,528 from a record of 5: 2-1-1. She paid her faithful $6.60, $3.00, and $2.20.