Grace Hall regains winning form in Indiana Oaks

Grace Hall, who finished a dismal fifth last time out in the Abalama Stakes (gr. I), rebounded to her winning ways this afternoon when she coasted to an easy victory in the $200,000 Indiana Oaks (gr. III) at Hoosier Park.

With Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, Grace Hall showed speed from the start and soon found herself in the second position, just a head behind Eden's Moon as that one led the way through fractions of :23.67 and :47.31. Wine Princess, Uptown Bertie, and Holiday Soiree trailed the very compact field, with Holiday Soiree racing only about 1 1/2 lengths behind Eden's Moon.

Following three-quarters of a mile in 1:11.62, Grace Hall moved ahead of Eden's Moon and blew the race wide open with a strong run. Four lengths in front passing the eighth pole, the filly coasted home under a hand ride to win by 5 3/4 lengths while stopping the clock for 1 1/16th miles in the very sharp time of 1:41.85 seconds over a track labeled good.

Wine Princess rallied mildly to secure second over Eden's Moon, while Holiday Soiree and Uptown Bertie trailed the field.

The winner is trained by Anthony Dutrow and owned by Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables, and Stuart Grant. A daughter of Empire Maker out of the Ezzoud mare Season's Greetings, Grace Hall has now won six of her ten starts and earned $1,281,360.

-Keelerman

Indiana Oaks Entries: Grace Hall looks to rebound

Grade I winners Grace Hall and Eden's Moon are among the nine fillies entered in an exceptional edition of the $200,000 Indiana Oaks (gr. II), which will be held on Saturday at Hoosier Park.

Grace Hall will likely be favored thanks to overall record, which includes victories in the Spinaway Stakes (gr. II) and Delaware Oaks (gr. II), but she is coming off of a dismal showing in the Alabama Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga and must rebound. Eden's Moon is in a similar boat, having won the Las Virgenes Stakes (gr. I) and San Clemente Handicap (gr. II) earlier this year before finishing a poor fifth in the Del Mar Oaks (gr. I) last time out.

Other prominent entries in the 1 1/16th miles race include Monmouth Oaks (gr. III) winner Wine Princess, Iowa Oaks (gr. III) winner Uptown Bertie, and the multiple graded stakes-placed Amie's Dini.

PP	Horse	Weight	Jockey	Trainer
1	Confession	115	Orlando Mojica	Victoria Oliver
2	Wine Princess	121	Shaun Bridgmohan	Steve Margolis
3	Eden's Moon	121	Rafael Bejarano	Bob Baffert
4	Uptown Bertie	121	Corey Lanerie	Steve Margolis
5	Amie's Dini	119	Leandro Goncalves	Ron Moquett
6	Grace Hall	121	Ramon Dominguez	Anthony Dutrow
7	Holiday Soiree	117	Terry Thompson	D. Michael Smithwick, Jr.
8	Grace for Grace	115	Victor Lebron	Tevis McCauley
9	Chernomorochka	117	Federico Mata	Robert Fiesman

-Keelerman