Oaklawn Park 4/26 Race 9 Preview: Charming Lady Cuts Back in Search of Second W

HOT SPRINGS, AR – A day after teaming up to take the $100,000 Bachelor Stakes, jockey Joe Talamo and trainer Tom Amoss are hoping to repeat their success in Sunday’s ninth race at Oaklawn Park when Charming Lady takes on 11 other 3-year-old fillies sprinting 6 furlongs.

A multiple-length victor on debut while covering 6 furlongs at Fair Grounds on January 18, Charming Lady made her next two starts going two turns against allowance/optional claiming rivals, first at Fair Grounds (she finished third), then here at Oaklawn Park (second). Amoss is hopeful that cutting this $400,000 Ghostzapper filly back to a one-turn sprint will better employ her sharp early turn of foot.

“We’re excited about her,” Amoss said following her debut victory. “After not breaking well she rated nicely behind horses and accelerated when she had the opening.”

Here is the full field for Sunday’s ninth race at Oaklawn Park:

1. Wasabi Girl (15/1) – A promising early start to her career resulted in this Steve Asmussen trainee winning two straight and earning black-type honors while sprinting as a 2-year-old. She has struggled in both 2020 starts, never finishing better than third or closer than 6 lengths to the winner, but she drops in class and runs for the optional $80k tag after competing in two local stakes events: the Dixie Belle (she finished third) and the Purple Martin (fourth).

2. Sekani (15/1) – Trainer William VanMeter and jockey Declan Cannon will attempt to repeat the success that they enjoyed with Sekani last time out when she won the local Rainbow Stakes for Arkansas-breds. VanMeter has won nine of his 33 mounts during this meet heading into Sunday, including five of nine that Cannon has ridden.

3. Misty Blue (7/2) – This Competitive Edge filly is 3/4 of a length away from being perfect in three local starts. She won her first two starts over the strip against allowance/optional claiming foes, then just missed last time out while favored for the first time in her eight-race career. Martin Garcia rides for the fourth straight time.

4. High On Gin (15/1) – Twice a stakes winner at 2, High On Gin is dropping down in class as she returns from a layoff of nearly three months. Stakes scores at Louisiana Downs (in her second start) and Delta Downs (fourth start) encouraged trainer Carl Deville, Jr., to try her against tougher competition in the Ginger Brew Stakes and the Martha Washington Stakes. In order to qualify for the conditions, she is being risked for an $80k tag.

5. Gee She Sparkles (30/1) – Owner/trainer Danny Pish is hoping that his Texas-bred stakes-winning filly can make some noise while running for an $80k tag. Pish has a 17% win rate in dirt races and sprints, though with this type of layoff (she is unraced since January 26), he is only successful 8% of the time.

6. Charming Lady (4/1) – Talamo and Amoss teamed up Saturday to win the Bachelor with the B.C.W.T. Ltd.-owned Long Weekend, so that trio will aim to duplicate the results Sunday. Her dam, I’m Mom’s Favorite, won the 6-furlong Miss Preakness Stakes in 2013, and all three foals to race (including Charming Lady) have a combined record of 17-6-2-1 in dirt sprints.

7. Monedas de Oro (30/1) – After making seven starts at age 2, this Munnings filly has been absent since September 21, when she finished last of 12 in an allowance/optional claiming event behind fellow rival Wasabi Girl. Trainer Genaro Garcia is risking this two-time winner for an $80k tag as she makes her 2020 debut.

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8. Nautical Gem (30/1) – Trainer Joe Sharp debuted her victoriously at Canterbury Downs last July, then sent her to Charles Town for a minor stakes event in September that she lost by over 14 lengths. She has been absent since, but a pair of bullet workouts on her form suggest that she is itching to return, and Sharp historically wins with 18% of his starters returning from layoffs of at least 180 days.

9. Classy Beast (15/1) – After failing to break her maiden in a pair of starts at Gulfstream Park last October, trainer David Fawkes gave her time off. The break seemed to do the trick, as she won her 3-year-old debut here while covering 6 furlongs in the slop on March 14. Fawkes has a 21% strike rate with a positive ROI ($2.19) with returning winners.

10. Banker’s Candy (30/1) – Though she won her debut by 8 1/2 lengths at Prairie Meadows last July, she failed to find the same success in her subsequent two starts while running at Churchill Downs. She has been absent since October and in the past five years, trainer Kelly Von Hemel has just a single victory from 17 starters returning from layoffs of over 180 days, but having won on debut suggests that gaps away may not affect her first start back.

11. Edgeway (9/5) – Trainer John Sadler saddled her to a dazzling debut victory here on February 29 when she conquered a 6-furlong maiden special weight field by 5 lengths while running on the front end. Sadler saw fit to send her directly to the Purple Martin, where she weakened late to third after setting the pace. Sadler intended to send her to Eight Belles Stakes (G2) on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) undercard before that race was postponed, so she ends up in a likely much softer spot here instead.

12. Sassy Seneca (9/2) – This McLean Robertson trainee won her first two starts by a combined 11 lengths while competing at Canterbury Park, the latter a 6-furlong stakes in September. She was absent until finishing fourth in February’s Dixie Belle, 3/4 of a length behind Wasabi Girl. To qualify for the race conditions, she is being risked for an $80k tag.

13. Maryanorginger (10/1) (Also Eligible) – The first of two on the Also Eligible list hoping for a scratch, she won her debut in the Astoria Stakes at Belmont Park last June, but she was absent until facing allowance foes here on April 4. Whether it was the long time away or the sloppy surface that caused it, she finished ninth as the 8/5 favorite, beaten 14 lengths. She should improve in her second start back for trainer Jeremiah Englehart, who has a 25% win rate with a positive ROI ($2.78) in such conditions.

14. Orquidias Biz (12/1) (Also Eligible) – This daughter of Fed Biz will hope to make her first appearance for new trainer Peter Eurton after compiling a record of 6-1-2-0 with Jeff Bonde. She has surface versatility, having broken her maiden on the turf while also finishing second in the Desi Arnaz Stakes on the dirt, but she will need at least two rivals to scratch if she wants to race.