It took a Fantasy Stakes winner to beat another fast filly here Saturday.
Yuugiri won for the second time at the meet and third time in two years at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in the $150,000 Carousel Stakes. A determined second, by no means a loser, was Pretty Birdie, the Purple Martin winner last March and the Poinsettia star late in the year.
As Pretty Birdie's late owner-breeder Marylou Whitney surely would have, the Japanese connections of Yuugiri recognized they witnessed greatness that a sloppy track could not spoil. Their Kentucky-bred filly is a world-class player on the American stage.
The only filly to beat Yuugiri in Hot Springs, by Preakness winner Shackleford, took the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks last May. Secret Oath, a three-time Oaklawn winner for Wayne Lukas, is responsible for Yuugiri's two worst defeats -- 9 1/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Honeybee here and 23 1/4 lengths under the twin spires at Churchill downs. Secret Oath, third in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, sat out the Fantasy, which Yuugiri won a neck at 4-1.
Breeders Tsunebumi and Sekie Yoshirara waited until Dec. 30 for their filly's comeback race, a frontrunning triumph of 2 1/4 lengths going six furlongs at Oaklawn. The victory was enhanced when runner-up Hot and Sultry, with Arkansas owners, won a local stake next out for sizzling trainer Norm Casse. That gave Yuugiri a feel for Arkansas mud, which she cataloged in memory.
Casse was on the short end Saturday with Pretty Birdie in her 4-year-old debut, rested since the Dec. 17 Poinsettia. Reunited with jockey David Cabrera -- her Purple Martin pilot -- Pretty Birdie made few allowances to the most extreme track conditions she'd encountered in 10 races.
It was a two-horse race from the outset with Yuugiri letting Pretty Birdie carve out the fractions -- 21.41 and 44.97 -- while the others had choice seats. In the end, an Oaklawn truism was borne out late: When he leads in the stretch, usually but not always with the best horse, Ricardo Santana Jr. seldom loses.
In a textbook ride, the eight-time Oaklawn champion reeled in Pretty Birdie from outside in midstretch, completing a natural pick-three. The margins alone -- 3 1/2, 3 1/4 – validated the outcome, Yuugiri clocking six furlongs in 1:10.17 and paying $5 as a slight favorite. Last-out local winner Hazy Command, trained by Tom Amoss, was third.
Collecting $94,575, Yuugiri positioned herself for major races to come -- whether short or long. At the least, she becomes one to consider for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Next up, said Brisset, is the Grade 1 Madison April 8 at Keeneland.
"The good ones, they can do anything," Brisset said. "Obviously, last time we saw she liked the mud. Today, was a little bit sloppier, I think. They went a (half-mile) in :44 and he (Santana) decided to take her back a little bit. He gave her a breather and she re-engaged. We know she knows how to dig in. She won at a mile and a sixteenth. Everything went as planned."
Caddo in charge: On a day that its waters were swollen after steady rain, Caddo River the horse kicked up his heels in the slop at Oaklawn.
The 5-year-old Hard Spun horse scored his fourth local victory for Hot Springs owner-breeder John Ed Anthony and first for new trainer Wayne Lukas in a $106,000 allowance on the Rebel Stakes undercard. Joel Rosario steered the 8-5 favorite to a neck victory over last-out meet winner Frosted Grace in 1:44.61 for a mile-and-sixteenth.
The race was marred by the turbulent comeback of Grade 1 winner Max Player, trained by Steve Asmussen. With Santana Jr. aboard, the 6-year-old Honor Code horse started a step slow and wobbled before the field reached the first turn. A $1.5 million earner with three graded victories, formerly trained by Linda Rice, Max Player was vanned off after his first Oaklawn race and anywhere since July.
Caddo River finished second by a neck to Spa City in a Jan. 21 allowance over the track that he won the 2021 Smarty Jones and finished second in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. Anthony, who also raced the winner's dam, recently entrusted Caddo River, formerly trained by Brad Cox, with Lukas and the horse scratched from the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap eight days ago. Lukas won the Razorback with 5-year-old Last Samurai for the late Arkansas owner-breeder Willis Horton.