Delaware Oaks

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

Of the eight three-year-old fillies entered in Saturday’s $500,000 Delaware
Oaks (G2), seven are stakes winners. But two of the entrants, ROUND POND
(Awesome Again) and SIS CITY (Slew City Slew) are Grade 1 winners, and the pair
are in a class of their own. Round Pond, the 9-5 morning-line favorite, enters
off a win in the prestigious Acorn S. (G1) at Belmont, but we’re trying to get a
little value with Sis City now that she is away from her nemesis, Churchill
Downs.

A winner of half of her 10 lifetime starts, Sis City has run three times in
Louisville, Kentucky, with a third-place finish in her career debut as her best
showing under the Twin Spires. Throw those three starts out, and the bay miss
shows a consistent mark of 7-5-0-1. At two, Sis City was claimed from Steve Asmussen by Richard Dutrow, who turned the filly around to
win her first start under his tutelage by 16 lengths in the Mongo Queen S.
After a third-place finish in the Frizette S. (G1) and a wide trip in the
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), she finished her year with an easy win in the
Demoiselle S. (G2).

In her sophomore debut, Sis City romped by 16 lengths again, this time in the
Davona Dale S. (G2). She didn’t start again until April, but produced the same
type of result with a 10 1/2-length score in the Ashland S. (G1) at Keeneland.
Jockey Edgar Prado had to steady the filly entering the first turn of the
Kentucky Oaks (G1), and she never really got into the race after that,
eventually finishing fourth. Bobby Frankel, who has taken over the training for a suspended Dutrow,
will give Prado a leg up on Saturday. Look for the bay miss to rebound with a
big performance in Wilmington, Delaware.

Take nothing away from Round Pond. With the same trainer/jockey combination
as last year’s Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Smarty Jones, the John Servis trainee
has won her last four in a row, including the Fantasy S. (G2) prior to her Acorn
win. She recorded a BRIS Speed rating of 111 last time even after a bad start,
and if she duplicates that performance on Saturday, no one will likely touch her. We
just think 9-5 is a little short, so we’ll still use her in the multi-race bets
but underneath our top selection in the exactas and trifectas.

The Jeff Mullins-trained BROOKE’S HALO (Southern Halo) comes into this 1
1/16-mile event off a win at the distance in the Hollywood Breeders’ Cup Oaks
(G2). The versatile chestnut was second by a nose sprinting over the Hollywood
turf two back, and we like her chances to round out the trifecta.

PLEASANT CHIMES (Pleasant Tap) has placed twice in Grade 2 events, and the
Mark Hennig trainee won her first stakes race over this surface last time with a
one-length tally in the Susan’s Girl Breeders’ Cup S. We’ll also have her
finishing off the gimmicks.

Black-Eyed Susan S. (G2) runner-up R LADY JOY (Vicar) gets regular rider Jose
Lezcano for the Oaks, and we’ll also use her in the exotics. Her 98 Speed rating
for her Black-Eyed Susan run is encouraging, and she is a definite must-use at
12-1. DANCE AWAY CAPOTE (Capote) is a multiple stakes winner but appears a class
below these. Still, her record at Delaware (3-2-1-0) merits use in the bottom of
the gimmicks as well.

BAYOU BREEZE (A.P. Indy) won the Revidere S. by a nose over Grade 1 winner
Sense of Style (Thunder Gulch) last time but garnered a Speed rating of 89, well
below Round Pond’s 111. She obviously would need to improve despite an
impressive win. LISALIZED (Wayne County [Ire]) is the only filly in the Delaware
Oaks without a stakes win to her credit and may be outclassed.