OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A 10-day break from the end of arguably the best meet of his career didn’t slow the momentum of jockey Dylan Davis, who rallied Beautiful Love from well off the pace to win Saturday’s Grade 3, $350,000 Jockey Club Oaks at Aqueduct.
As far back as 17 3/4 lengths behind runaway pacesetter Macanga after six furlongs in 1:12.32, Davis gradually worked Beautiful Love from the inside to outside and into the clear. Turning for home, Beautiful Love still appeared to have plenty to do but she came with a furious run while eight-to-nine wide and easily outfinished Justdeny to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Justdeny got second by a nose over Caldwell Luvs Gold.
Mont Saint Michel finished fourth and was followed by Lady Madonna, Mixologist, Americandreammaker, Lady Mary, the 5-2 favorite, Macanga, and Egyptian Candy. Miss Roberta scratched.
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The win was one of three on Saturday’s card for Davis, who was coming off a Saratoga meet in which he won 36 races –tied for third in the standings – including eight stakes. Davis won the Jockey Club Oaks for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby, just his second ride for that outfit. Earlier on the card, Davis won a New York-bred allowance aboard Tall Paul for Bob Baffert, his first ride for that trainer.
“Maybe it’s a lot of the success from Saratoga carrying over,” Davis said. “I just keep doing my job, my part out there.”
Davis was instructed to keep Beautiful Love relatively close in the Jockey Club Oaks. But when Beautiful Love broke a step slow and Macanga, under Lane Luzzi, sprinted to the lead, Davis had Beautiful Love in eighth-place and well off the pace. He was able to save all the ground on Beautiful Love early in the race and that gave Davis the confidence to go as wide as necessary when the real running started.
“They wanted me to break well and get into a forward position midpack, she ended up hopping out of there so we had to go to Plan B,” Davis said. “So just trusting my own instincts I saw there was a front runner out there, the horses I had to beat were right in front of me, so I just bided my time, saving as much ground as possible, getting my filly into a good rhythm. We had a lot to make up, I tried to get her running going into the last turn a little earlier and she responded well.”
Beautiful Love, a 3-year-old daughter of Siyouni, covered the 1 3/8 miles in 2:15.28 and returned $9.20. The win gave Godolphin a sweep of the series of marathon turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies on this circuit as Cinderella’s Dream won the Belmont Oaks and Saratoga Oaks. Cinderella’s Dream was entered in but scratched from Saturday’s Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine.
Beautiful Love became the 10th individual graded stakes winner accounting for 13 graded wins for Appleby in the United States this year. Beautiful Love was coming off a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Lake Placid at Saratoga, a race in which she had a wide trip. It was also her first race in six months.
“She needed the race as well,” said Nikki Jones, an assistant who saddled Beautiful Love for Appleby. “We brought her here, thought she was fit and healthy and well, and she’d do it and she did. Turning for home I thought she’s got an awful lot to do, she really did, [but] she did power home. Fair play to her.”
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