ARCADIA, Calif. – The only certainty when the California Cup Oaks was postponed Jan. 11 at Santa Anita was Take Another Card could not draw a worse post position – 12 of 12 – than when the turf mile originally was scheduled.
But when the $175,000 California Cup Oaks was redrawn and rescheduled for Saturday, Take Another Card got lucky. After being stuck outside a week earlier, Take Another Card got lucky and drew post 6 for the rescheduled race. There would not be a wide trip.
Take Another Card ($5.80) parlayed a ground-saving trip under Hector Berrios to win the race by a neck over Miso Phansy. Tequilaandtherapy finished third.
Simon Callaghan trains Take Another Card, the first Oaks winner sired by 2012 Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another. Paul Reddam owned I’ll Have Another. He bred and owns Take Another Card, who is now 2 for 2 after winning the Oaks in 1:36.98 as the favorite.
Take Another Card won her career debut Dec. 29, and Callaghan and Reddam planned to wheel her right back for the California Cup Oaks initially scheduled for Jan. 11. It meant running back in two weeks, but her debut win was sufficiently impressive to give it a shot.
“We were thinking about it, and then the post we didn’t like,” Callaghan said. Didn’t matter. The California Cup card was postponed, every stakes was redrawn, and Take Another Card moved in to post 6.
The new post and ground-saving strategy by Berrios contributed to her victory. Take Another Card tucked midpack on the rail, waited for room between foes into the lane, found a split, and won by a neck over fast-closing Miso Phansy. Hey Jessie, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, was cold in the betting and finished seventh at odds of 4.60-1.
Take Another Card was highly regarded before she ran. “We’ve always liked her,” Callaghan said, though he added “I didn’t necessarily think she’d win first time going six, but she’s nice.”
She is already two wins ahead of her dam. You Missed It made nine starts for Reddam, finished second in six races, and retired as a maiden. Reddam kept her; Take Another Card is her third runner and first stakes winner.
* The first pick six carryover of the Santa Anita winter meet is up for grabs Sunday, to the tune of $52,051. The $2 bet covers races 6 through 11 and includes a pair of Grade 3 stakes for fillies and mares. Those are the La Canada at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, and the Las Cienegas at 6 1/2 furlongs on the hill.
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