ARCADIA, Calif. – Opinions differ regarding the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes for 2-year-old fillies Saturday at Santa Anita.
One popular notion is that odds-on program favorite Explora is a slam dunk in the 1 1/16-mile route, based on her highly rated debut victory and fast-paced runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante at seven furlongs.
A second idea is that Oak Leaf entrant La Wally is primed for a stretch-out upset. She won her debut at five furlongs, followed by a better-than-it-looked third in the Del Mar Debutante. La Wally is begging for two turns, and she gets it Saturday. She is listed at 4-1 but is likely to go shorter.
Six are entered in the Oak Leaf, a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. In addition to Explora and La Wally, the field includes Grade 3 winner Himika, maiden winners Heaven’s Bolt and La Ville Lumiere, and debut runner-up Banzai Betty. The Oak Leaf is race 9.
Bob Baffert, 13-time winner of the Oak Leaf, has entered Explora and Himika, second and fourth in the Del Mar Debutante, which was won by stablemate Bottle of Rouge. Explora started at odds-on based on her 88-Beyer Speed Figure debut. She ran well on a hot pace in the Debutante but got worn down. Explora will remove blinkers for the two-turn Oak Leaf.
“She got a little rank in the Debutante,” Baffert said. “With blinkers off, she’s been working more relaxed. She’ll be more manageable. She won’t get rank early. We’ll find out if it was a mistake or not.”
Juan Hernandez rides Explora, who broke from the rail in the Debutante and was forced to use her speed. She drew the outside post 6 for the two-turn Oak Leaf and could relinquish the lead to stablemate Himika, fourth in the Debutante after she won the six-furlong Grade 3 Sorrento.
“I thought [Himika] would run better,” in the Debutante, Baffert acknowledged.
Himika did not break well in the Debutante and was forced to play catchup. New rider Mike Smith is likely to let her roll in the Oak Leaf, on Baffert’s suggestion.
“She’s a free-running [filly]. She wants to just go out there and run,” Baffert said. “I don’t think you can take hold of her.”
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While the Baffert pair looks formidable, La Wally offers appeal at higher program odds. Mark Glatt trains La Wally, whose Debutante third was admirable considering her trip. Despite an outside post, she was guided to the inside, forced to wait behind rivals to avoid checking off heels. She angled out for the stretch and finished well, a half-length behind Explora. The tables could turn Saturday around two turns.
La Wally “clearly looks like she’s going to relish the distance. Everything is pointing toward that,” Glatt said. “She’s a long-striding filly, she’s pretty push-button, and she’s not one that gets too keen early. She does things a horse needs to do to get the distance.”
Antonio Fresu rides La Wally, who breaks from post 3. Though Glatt was frustrated at her trip in the Debutante, the upside is the seasoning she gained taking dirt behind rivals.
“That might help her down the road,” Glatt said.
La Wally is named for an 1892 Italian opera, and as a daughter of Constitution, she figures to like the added ground. She is following the pattern of Glatt-trained 2023 Oak Leaf winner Chatalas, who won the stakes – then called the Chandelier – after finishing fourth in the Del Mar Debutante.
Three others in the Oak Leaf field are outsiders. Heaven’s Bolt won her debut by a neck at six furlongs and is trained by Richard Baltas. Banzai Betty finished second in her debut, a neck behind Heaven’s Bolt, and is trained by George Papaprodromou.
La Ville Lumiere looms at 12-1, the highest price in the program. The only Oak Leaf entrant who has raced two turns, La Ville Lumiere, finished fifth last out racing one mile in the Grade 3 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf.
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