LADY APPLE IS 8-5 MORNING-LINE FAVORITE FOR GRADE 3 REMINGTON PARK OAKS
Trainers Steve Asmussen and Michael Stidham are looking for their 3-year-old fillies to rebound after winning stakes races earlier in their career, attempting to pick up a win in the Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks on Sunday.
The race features 3-year-old fillies going 1-1/16th miles on the main track.
Lady Apple, the 8-5 morning line favorite out of Asmussen’s barn, won three in a row at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., this spring, including the Grade 3, $500,000 Fantasy Stakes. Those races landed Lady Apple in Louisville, Ky. where she finished third in the Grade 1, $1,250,000 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 3.
After two months off, Lady Apple returned to win the Grade 3, $200,000 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows in July. She then had a poor showing over a sloppy track in the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in her last start, losing by 25-3/4 lengths.
A daughter of Curlin, out of the Clever Trick mare Miss Mary Apples, Lady Apple had won four of her last five starts before the upstate New York fiasco on Aug. 17. Since then, she has had several works at Churchill Downs to prep for the Remington Park Oaks. Her career record is 10 starts, four wins, two seconds and one third for a bankroll of $691,950 and is the top earner in the field. She is owned by Phoenix Thoroughbred III and KatieRich Stables, the latter of which bred her in Kentucky.
Trainer Brad Cox sends out Gold Standard, who is stepping up into stakes-company for the first time. This daughter of Medaglia D’Oro, out of the Distorted Humor mare Mi Vida, took three starts to break her maiden, but once she got it figured out, there has been no stopping her. Since winning for the first time at Churchill Downs, by 7-1/2 lengths on June 8, she has done nothing but win.
After that initial victory, Gold Standard also made trips to the Ellis Park winner circle in Kentucky in allowance/optional claiming races by open lengths. She won an allowance/optional claiming $25,000 race by nine lengths on July 21 and then followed that up with a 2-1/2 lengths victory with allowance/optional claimers of the $40,000 level.
Gold Standard has a lifetime record is five starts, three wins, one second and one third for $137,188 in earnings. Gold Standard is owned by Stonestreet Stables, LLC, and LNJ Foxwoods. She was bred in Kentucky by the Don Alberto Corporation. She is at 9-5 odds in the morning line and will be ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan.
Classic Fit, from Stidham’s barn, won the $75,000 Hut Hut Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla., as a 2-year-old and then was the runner-up in the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., in June. This daughter of Bernardini, out of the Forestry mare True Style, also threw a clunker in her last start, running seventh, beaten 19-3/4 lengths in the Grade 3, $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar near San Diego.
Classic Fit is at 5-2 odds in the morning-line and will be ridden in the oaks by Stewart Elliott currently second in the Remington Park jockey standings. Classic Fit’s lifetime running line is three wins from six starts, one second and one third for winnings of $138,721. She is owned and was bred in Kentucky by Godolphin, LLC.
She’s Shiney is the home-field advantage filly as a stakes winner at Remington Park, taking the $100,000 Oklahoma Classics Classy Lassie on Oct. 19 as a 2-year-old, winning by 9-1/2 lengths. Trained by Alan Williams, she was stakes placed in her first 3-year-old try at Remington Park last time out, running second to the undefeated Lady Orchid in the $30,000 Oklahoma Stallions Stakes, fillies division.
She’s Shiney has run eight times in her career with four wins, two seconds and one third for $167,335. She’s Shiney is the only Oklahoma-bred in the field and is owned by the breeder, Adios Reality Farms, LLC, of Pleasant Hope, Mo. She is 7-2 in the morning-line and will be ridden by Jose Medina.
The field for the Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks, by post position and program order, with trainers, jockeys and morning-line odds:
1) Classic Fit: Michael Stidham, Stewart Elliott, 5-2
2) Gold Standard: Brad Cox, Shaun Bridgmohan, 9-5
3) She’s Shiney: Alan Williams, Jose Medina, 7-2
4) Lady Apple: Steve Asmussen, Ricardo Santana, 8-5 (morning-line favorite)
Tracked by more than 158,000 fans on Facebook and more than 10,000 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $228 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park is the home of the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby and the Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks, to be contested on Sept. 29. For more information, reservations and group bookings please call 405-424-1000, 866-456-9880 or visit remingtonpark.com.
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