A small but compact field of three-year-old fillies is scheduled to head to post this afternoon for the 2011 edition of the grade I Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga. The historic event, won by such greats as Ruffian, Open Mind, and Davona Dale, features three grade I winners and a pair of grade II winners.
The 2-1 morning line favorite is Royal Delta, a William Mott-trained daughter of Empire Maker. A very lightly raced filly, she won the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (gr. II) last time out at Pimlico in May. Her performance was stellar that day as she bided her time off the pace before rocketing her way to victory. A foot bruise caused her to miss just a bit of training a while back, but now she is ready to run again and looks to continue to build on her promising reputation.
Plum Pretty, winner of the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), is the co-second choice at 3-1. Trained by Bob Baffert, she won the Sunland Park Oaks in March by an incredible 25 lengths before holding off all challenges to win the Kentucky Oaks by a neck. She caught a very mild fever shortly before her next and most recent race, the Hollywood Oaks (gr. II), which may have contributed to her runner-up effort behind Zazu that day. However, she turned in a sharp six furlong work for this race and should run better today.
It's Tricky is the other 3-1 shot on the morning line. A daughter of Mineshaft, she is 4-for-5 in her career, which includes a stunning victory in the Acorn Stakes (gr. I) last time out. She still has a bit to prove -- her her Acorn victory came in the slop and around only one turn, while today's CCA Oaks is around two turns -- but she looks like a talented looking filly with a lot of potential.
Buster's Ready is 7-2 on the morning line. After finishing second to Royal Delta in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, she turned in a dominating performance to win the Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I) by 4 1/4 lengths over Joyful Victory. She has been improving with every race and if she continues to improve today, she may just be good enough to win this race.
Finally, there Joyful Victory, 6-1 on the morning line. After flying to extraordinarily easy victories in the Honeybee Stakes (gr. III) and Fantasy Stakes (gr. II), she finished fourth as the favorite in the Kentucky Oaks and second to Buster's Ready in the Mother Goose. While it is clear that she will have to step up and run better in order to win this race, she may just be capable of doing that.
Whoever wins this race will likely assume leadership of the division, which is currently wide open.
My picks are:
1 Royal Delta
2 Plum Pretty
3 Buster's Ready
-Keelerman
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