Oaklawn undercard: Alexander Helios, Quietside pull off upsets

Alexander Helios, a half-brother to 2021 Preakness winner Rombauer, made his stakes debut a winning one Sunday when he outdueled Banishing and won by a head in the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn.

Click here Oaklawn entries and results.

Sent off at 8-1 odds, the 5-year-old Cairo Prince mare trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione ran in second to Banishing (3-1) for most of the 1 1/16-mile race for 4-year-olds and up. Carrying 117 pounds to Banishing’s 119, Alexander Helios dueled his rival the length of the stretch before prevailing by a head.

Betting favorite First Mission (2-1) was third most of the way and closed the gap on the two leaders before coming up a neck short to finish third. Full Screen (68-1) was another six lengths up the track finishing fourth in the field of 14.

The winning time was 1:41.88 on the fast main track after early splits of 23.81, 47.60, 1:11.42 and 1.35.77. Alexander Helios returned $18.00, $9.40 and $5.40; Banishing $4.60 and $3.40; and First Mission $3.20.

Alexander Helios was bred by his owners John and Diane Fradkin, who also campaigned Rombauer. Out of Cowboy Cal mare Cashmere, he is 15: 5-3-3 with earnings of $542,170.

Quietside is 10-1 surprise in Honeybee

Winless in four previous stakes attempts, Quietside (10-1) stayed within striking distance of early pacesetter Five G (8-1) before finding the lead in the deep stretch en route to a one-length upset in the $500,000 Honeybee (G3), a 1 1/16-mile points prep for the Kentucky Oaks (G1).

The Shortleaf Stable homebred filly by Malibu Moon started from post 12 and was hustled forward into the first turn by jockey José Ortiz. She never was more than two lengths behind Five G through fractions of 23.19, 46.87 and 1:11.81.

Angling slightly outward turning into the homestretch, Quietside drew even with Five G while post-time favorite Muhimma (4-5) tried to make a late, four-wide charge in the last furlong. She got within one furlong as Quietside got the first mile in 1:37.10, but she capitulated in the last sixteenth.

Quietside’s winning time was 1:43.63.

Five G stayed on to finish second with Muhimma third, Necessity (41-1) fourth and Quickick (9-1) fifth in the field of 13 3-year-old fillies. The top five finishers picked up 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points.

Quietside returned $22.40, $8.40 and $4.40; Five G $9.20 and $5.00; and Muhimma $2.60.

Trained by John Ortiz, Quietside won her debut in August at Saratoga. She followed that with a second-place finish in the Spinaway (G1), a third in the Alcibiades (G1), a second in the Golden Rod (G2) and 2nd last month in the Martha Washington over the same 1 1/16 miles as the Honeybee.

Now 6: 2-3-1, Quietside added $240,000 to run her career earnings to $552,200.