ARCADIA, Calif. – In a peculiar twist, most of the 3-year-old fillies entered in a Grade 3 dirt route Saturday at Santa Anita are sprinters and turf specialists. Did they enter the wrong race?
But the main challenge was articulated by Dean Pederson, who trains sprinter Our Moonlight. “At the end of the day, the question is how good are you? You find that out Saturday afternoon.”
Seven entered the Summertime Oaks, a 1 1/16-mile race in which Our Moonlight figures as a contender off a runner-up comeback vs. older allowance sprinters. The Summertime Oaks is the first route for Our Moonlight and Cash Call, who crushed an allowance sprint for 3-year-old fillies last out.
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Though both fillies are uncertain in routes, at least Our Moonlight and Cash Call are proven on dirt. The opposite applies to Thought Process and Sea Runner. Both are route winners, albeit on turf. They are question marks on dirt.
Thought Process has won three of five, and is the most accomplished in the field, having won two turf stakes last year, including a Grade 3. Thought Process was freshened after finishing ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and this spring acts like she will handle the surface switch.
“If we had any hesitation, we wouldn’t do it,” trainer Phil D’Amato said.
There is no hesitation based on the filly’s dirt works. “She looks really comfortable and fluid on it,” D’Amato said.
Hector Berrios rides Thought Process, whose main hurdle might be her seven-month layoff.
Cash Call, the high-figure starter in the Summertime Oaks, is one of three trained by Bob Baffert. He also entered sprint stakes winner Silent Law and Howin. Maiden-claiming route winner Allihies is the longest shot in the field.
Cash Call, if she reproduces her recent sprint figures (92 and 89 Beyer Speed Figures) in her first two-turn try, could become the first favorite to win the Summertime Oaks since Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Songbird ($2.10) in 2016. Juan Hernandez rides Cash Call.
Our Moonlight gets tested for class and distance, and Pederson said she trains as if two turns will be no problem. “We’re optimistic, we’re hopeful she’ll be able to handle it. I don’t see any reason why she won’t,” he said.
Sired by Tapit, Our Moonlight won her debut in December, and made her next start four months later. Our Moonlight settled early, finished with run, and galloped out willingly after the wire. “She got out of it what she needed,” Pederson said. It was only her second start.
“I hear Tapits can be a little high strung, but up to this point, she’s handled everything very well mentally,” Pederson said. “Her works have been very good, she’s done everything the right way.”
Our Moonlight will be ridden by Tiago Pereira, who also works the filly.
Silent Law, runner-up in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks, is likely to set the pace under Kazushi Kimura. The filly who defeated Silent Law in the Santa Anita Oaks, Tenma, returned to finish fourth in the Kentucky Oaks.
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