HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Hoosier Philly could go over $1 million in career earnings Saturday at Oaklawn Park, where she will defend her title in the $200,000 Dig a Diamond Stakes.
The one-mile race drew eight fillies and mares and will end at the sixteenth pole. Others set to start include Bru Na Boinne and Rose Palace, who have each won overnight stakes at the meet; Flashy Lass, who captured last fall’s She’s All In at Remington Park; and Our Pretty Woman, who is an up-and-coming member of the division for Oaklawn-leading trainer Steve Asmussen.
Hoosier Philly is a 5-year-old mare by Into Mischief who has compiled a career record of six wins from 18 starts for earnings of $974,465. The Grade 2 winner will be looking for the fifth stakes win of her career Saturday for Gold Standard Racing Stable and trainer Tom Amoss.
“Since Day 1 she acted like a really good horse and she proved that to be true,” Amoss said.
Hoosier Philly is out of the Tapit mare Tapella, which makes her a half-sister to American Promise, the Virginia Derby winner who is scheduled to run in the Kentucky Derby next Saturday.
As for Hoosier Philly, she comes into the Dig a Diamond off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 8 at Santa Anita. It was a rare Southern California start for the mare based in the Midwest.
“It was a very difficult race,” Amoss said. “I think we had a bit of a disadvantage having to ship all the way out there, and I didn’t think she ran her ‘A’ game.”
Since the start, Hoosier Philly has been working at Churchill Downs, her latest move going five furlongs in 1:00.20 on April 16.
“She’s a hard horse to judge because she really enjoys her work so much that if she didn’t train well, you’d be looking to take her temperature,” Amoss said. “But she has done very well training, and I think we’ve given her enough time to get over that race to feel comfortable about being in this one.”
Edgar Morales has the mount from post 2.
“She’s a tactical speed kind of horse,” Amoss said. “I think she’ll be extremely close to the pace, and if the pace is silly one way or the other, she can adapt.”
Bru Na Boinne also brings tactical speed to the table. She was a neck winner of the $145,000 Trivista on Feb. 23 at Oaklawn. Ramon Vazquez has the mount from the rail for trainer Bret Calhoun.
In Just My Heels is back at a mile, where she won a first-level allowance at the distance in January at Oaklawn. Trainer Ron Moquett, who won three races on the card last Saturday, has given the mount to Rafael Bejarano.
◗ Oaklawn will be passing out vouchers for free hot dogs, soda, and popcorn while supplies last Saturday as part of its fan appreciation festivities. There also will be cash drawings. The meet continues through May 3.
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