Kentucky Oaks prospect Quietside joins long Oaklawn legacy

Many of breeder and owner John Ed Anthony’s best horses, including Cox’s Ridge, Pine Bluff and Eclipse Award winners Temperence Hill, Vanlandingham and Prairie Bayou, were named after people or places in his native Arkansas.

Anthony made a detour with his latest success story.

The inspiration behind the name of Kentucky Oaks contender Quietside is a vacation home Anthony and his wife, Isabel, have in Northeast Harbor, Maine, which is on Mount Desert Island. The island’s largest town, Bar Harbor, is described by Anthony’s son, Steven, as “very busy, touristy.”

“That part of the island away from (Bar Harbor) is the “quiet side,” Anthony said.

Quietside made a lot of noise for John Ed Anthony Saturday at Oaklawn, capturing the $750,000 Fantasy Stakes (G2), a major Kentucky Oaks prep, by three-quarters of a length over previously unbeaten Simply Joking.

The 1 1/16-mile Fantasy was the record 40th career Oaklawn stakes victory for Anthony, 86, the Arkansas lumberman whose horses now race under the Shortleaf Stable banner. The late John Franks, a four-time Eclipse Award winner as North America’s outstanding owner, had 39 career Oaklawn stakes victories, the last coming in 2000.

“Well, of course, this takes a while to get it done,” Anthony, the winningest owner in Oaklawn history, said moments after Quietside’s victory. “It’s been a grand experience to race here for 50-plus years. Just glad that my family (was here). Gosh, I’ve got grandkids and I think I’ve even got a couple of great-grandkids here. Oaklawn’s been a fun place for my family for 50-plus years.”

Anthony’s first of 299 Oaklawn victories, to date, was Feb. 16, 1972. Anthony recorded his first Oaklawn stakes victory March 18, 1978, with Cox’s Ridge in the Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses at 1 1/16 miles.

Cox’s Ridge was Anthony’s first nationally prominent horse. His latest is Quietside, a homebred daughter of the late Malibu Moon out of Benner Island, a Grade 2 winner for Shortleaf who finished fifth in the 2017 Fantasy.

Quietside was among the nation’s top 2-year-old fillies after finishing second in the $300,000 Spinaway Stakes (G1) Aug. 31 at Saratoga, third in the $600,000 Alcibiades Stakes (G1) Oct. 4 at Keeneland and second in the $400,000 Golden Rod Stakes (G2) Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs. The Alcibiades and Golden Rod were 1 1/16 miles.

Quietside scored her breakthrough stakes victory in the $500,000 Honeybee (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 23 at Oaklawn and edged Simply Joking in the Fantasy under Jose Ortiz.  Quietside, on the outside, stalked front-running Simply Joking much of the way before finally gaining a narrow advantage approaching the eighth pole. The 3-5 favorite, Quietside ran 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:44.31. She received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 91 from Daily Racing Form, a career high.

“Honestly, the only instructions I gave to Jose was don’t get her dirty,” trainer John Ortiz said Sunday morning. “So, he did a good job of keeping her in the clear. That was literally the only instructions I gave him.”

The Fantasy was John Ortiz’s most lucrative career victory to date and another Oaklawn milestone triumph when teaming with Anthony.

Anthony became the winningest owner in Oaklawn history (270 victories) when the Ortiz-trained Rolling Fork captured an Arkansas-bred allowance race Feb. 26, 2022. Ortiz’s 100th career Oaklawn victory came March 9, 2024, with Black Apple, another Shortleaf homebred.

“It’s so good to accomplish these milestones with Mr. John Ed,” Ortiz said. “To be a part of his history, his career, it’s an honor to be mentioned as one of his trainers, and he’s had plenty of great trainers in his lifetime. To be one that helped him reach these milestones, it’s an honor. I feel privileged to be around him.”

Anthony amassed 172 Oaklawn victories racing as Loblolly Stable (dissolved in the mid-1990s). Quietside was Anthony’s 127th Oaklawn winner as Shortleaf.

Quietside is now based at Keeneland, where she will continue preparations for the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 2 at Churchill Downs. The 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks is the country’s biggest race for 3-year-old fillies.

Quietside ranks No. 1 on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 168 points. She has a 7: 3-3-1 record and earnings of $957,200.

Anthony also won the Fantasy in 1993 with Aztec Hill, a Loblolly homebred who finished seventh in the Kentucky Oaks in her next start.