DEL MAR, Calif. – Having cemented her role as the top 3-year-old turf filly in California by bagging her third stakes last out, Thought Process faces fresh challengers Saturday at Del Mar.
Bring ’em on.
The Del Mar Oaks will be the fourth leg of the pick six sequence that has a $79,373 carryover.
An eclectic field entered the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, a 1 1/8-mile race recently kind to chalk. Favorites have won the Oaks four of the last six years.
Thought Process will try to extend the trend despite drawing post 10.
“The thing about this filly is she just has such an amazing cruising speed,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “She’s tactical. She’s shown multiple dimensions, and she couldn’t be training any better.”
Thought Process, 5 for 6 on turf and 2 for 2 this year, stretches out after a decisive victory in the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap at one mile. Four rivals Thought Process handled in the San Clemente run back in the Oaks, including two-three finishers Casalu and Grade 3 winner Will Then, who was making her first start in nearly three months.
“She needed the race to get tight,” Will Then’s trainer Jonathan Thomas said. “She’s a filly that will appreciate another eighth of a mile. The added ground is going to suit her.”
Several in the Oaks will face Thought Process for the first time. Lush Lips won a listed stakes at Churchill Downs and arrived in California this week. Take A Breath won an allowance in England and arrived two weeks ago.
Others are up from allowance races, including recent one-three finishers Velocity and Slick. Oaks outsiders are comebacker Resolve, maiden winner Edge of Mali, Grade 3 winner Firenze Flavor, Miso Phansy, and maiden also-eligible Striver. Twelve entered, 11 can start, and the favorite is genuine.
Thought Process, a juvenile stakes winner last year at Del Mar and Santa Anita, had her three-race win streak end in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Thought Process set the pace to deep stretch, finished ninth, and took seven months off.
D’Amato said she changed over winter. He said attributes include “her maturity, the way she takes on things, the ease at which she does everything.”
Thought Process looked strong in a three-way team turf work Aug. 10. She could be the speed of the Oaks field from a wide post that is not a deal-breaker. Three years ago, Spendarella won the Del Mar Oaks from post 10. Umberto Rispoli rides Thought Process.
D’Amato also entered lightly raced Slick, third in her allowance comeback. “She was wide most of the trip and made a big, sustained move and I think she got a lot out of it,” D’Amato said. “She came out of the race really good.”
Mirco Demuro rides Slick, who was outworked by Thought Process on Aug. 10.
Will Then and Lush Lips are the main threats. Will Then is a dual stakes winner for Thomas. The filly’s third in the San Clemente was an ideal prep. “I couldn’t be upset we were in the trifecta,” Thomas said. “She came out well, she had a really good work [Aug. 10]. If she happened to hit the board in a Grade 1, we’d be over the moon.”
Juan Hernandez rides Will Then.
Lush Lips arrived in the U.S. last fall as a maiden and has improved in five starts for trainer Brendan Walsh, winning three and finishing second twice. “She took a little while to acclimatize, but since she has, she’s done very well,” Walsh said.
After a pair of runner-up finishes in graded stakes won by Nitrogen, Lush Lips won the Tepin at Churchill by nearly four lengths last out. Tyler Gafflione rides Lush Lips.
Take A Breath was purchased privately in England after winning three of seven. She arrived at trainer Mark Glatt’s stable two weeks ago and had a maintenance team workout Aug. 10 with older filly Khinjani. Glatt is satisfied at Take A Breath’s condition.
“We feel like she’s ready to do what we’re asking of her,” Glatt said. “She came in, she started to eat well. They always lose a little weight [shipping], but she’s picked up a fair amount of weight fairly quickly here.”
Hector Berrios rides Take A Breath.
Firenze Flavor merits upset consideration based on her Grade 3 win two back at Santa Anita in the 1 1/8-mile Honeymoon. Her trainer, Paddy Gallagher, orchestrated the two biggest Del Mar Oaks upsets over the past two decades – Red Lark ($40.20) in 2020 and Magical Fantasy ($87) in 2008. Firenze Flavor, whose rider is Drayden Van Dyke, will be rolling late at a price.
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