After the scratch of Summer Luck, seven three-year-old fillies will go postward in the 52nd running of the Grade II Fair Ground Oaks today.
Farrell has been made the 8/5 favorite on the strength of her three consecutive stakes scores — two of which were graded — but I’m unwilling to take a short price based on what I saw in her last start.
Simply put, the Wayne Catalano trainee rated on a clear early lead in the Rachel Alexandra (G2), allowing her to record a solid -6 late speed ration (LSR). Today, however, she could get some early pressure from Daria’s Angel, who went wire to wire in her route debut and had shown quite a bit of early lick in two previous sprint races. This could make her vulnerable.
One horse that really intrigues me is Vexatious, who lured jockey Kent Desormeaux despite the presence of Majestic Quality, who is trained by Kent’s brother Keith and whom the former guided to a second-place finish in the Rachel Alexandra.
Corporate Queen is another that will be running late should the pacesetters collapse.
The Fair Grounds Oaks is scheduled as the 10th race on the Fair Grounds card, with a post time of 5:41 p.m. ET.
