Saratoga Oaks Preview: Top 4 From Lake Placid Return for Rematch

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The top four finishers from last month’s Lake Placid Stakes (G2) return for a rematch while facing three new rivals in Sunday’s $500,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes.

The Saratoga Oaks is a 1 3/16-mile outer turf route restricted to 3-year-old fillies. This year’s edition is the penultimate event on a 10-race card with a local post time of 5:47 PM.

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Here is a look at the full field for the Saratoga Oaks:

1. Speaktomeofsummer 3/1 – The Summer Front filly has improved her Beyer speed figures in nearly every start and earned a career-best 87 for winning the Lake Placid. She stretches out slightly from that 1 1/8-mile event, but the good news is that it was her longest-run race to date, so the Christophe Clement trainee should handle going slightly farther.

“The filly is doing well and has been training forwardly from her last race,” Clement said. “She won well last time and got a very good ride from Joel Rosario, who will stay on her. It’s an extra 1/16 of a mile, which I hope won’t be a problem. I’m not sure about that, but I guess we will find out.”

2. Enola Gay 2/1 – She debuted triumphantly at Kentucky Downs last September before finishing fourth in the Steward Manor Stakes two months later. She was off until July, but the Shug McGaughey trainee was a nose victor in the 1-mile Appalachian Stakes (G2) and hinted that she could go farther in her second start off the bench.

“It’s a good spot for her and I think she’ll run that far,” McGaughey said. “I think she got stronger and got a bit more mentally mature with the time off. I went ahead and took a shot with her down there at Keeneland because she had trained so well. I thought it would be a good place to give her a chance.”

3. Antoinette 6/1/ – She heads back to the turf still searching her first victory of 2020 after winning twice last season, breaking her maiden on grass before winning the off-turf Tepin Stakes at Aqueduct. She has finished third in all 4 starts this year (3 on dirt, 1 on turf) while competing against talented stakes runners, but she’ll need to rediscover a killer instinct here.

4. Stunning Sky 7/2 -She shot up the rail in the Lake Placid stretch and held the lead at the 1/8 pole before yielding late to Speaktomeofsummer, her first time losing under rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. He stays aboard for trainer Mike Maker, who claimed the Declaration of War filly for $50k last December and has seen her improve her Beyer speed figures with every start.

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5. Key Biscayne 15/1 – She rallied wide from well off the Lake Placid pace to take fourth, missing the board by just a neck in her stakes debut. Her only 2 victories came earlier this year at Gulfstream Park against fellow Florida-bred fillies, and this field isn’t any easier than what she faced in the Lake Placid, but she should be a solid underneath price to use in exotics.

6. Ricetta 9/2 – The Juddmonte Farms homebred makes her North American debut for new trainer Bill Mott after compiling a 3-2-0-1 record in her native Great Britain. The Camelot filly finished third as the favorite in the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes (G3) while traversing 1 5/16 miles over a good/soft York surface and should appreciate a firm course here.

7. Queens Embrace 10/1 – She rallied from last to finish third in the Lake Placid after winning 5 of her 6 previous starts against lesser rivals at Tampa Bay Downs and Monmouth Park. She keeps Tyler Gaffalione aboard for the second straight time but will need to greatly improve upon her back-to-back 83 Beyer speed figures if she hopes to factor into this one.