Princess of Sylmar returns in CCA Oaks; Shuvee features Eblouissante

Only five fillies will head to the gate in Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000

Coaching

Club American Oaks, but the 1 1/8-mile contest features the return of

Kentucky Oaks queen Princess of Sylmar.

That Todd Pletcher-trained filly hasn't been seen in action since taking the

May 3 Kentucky Oaks under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs, but the chestnut

miss has been working up a storm in the interim. Princess of Sylmar took her

game back to Belmont Park following the Oaks, recording four moves, before

Pletcher sent her with the rest of his string to Saratoga. Once at the Spa the

Majestic Warrior three-year-old filly racked up three breezes, including a

half-mile in :48 2/5 on July 14 in preparation for this start.

Javier Castellano, in the irons when Princess of Sylmar took the Busher by

seven lengths last February and ran second in the Gazelle, chose to pilot her

more well-regarded stablemate Unlimited Budget in the Kentucky Oaks. He finished

third aboard that filly in the Run for the Lilies, but is back aboard Princess

of Sylmar for this one.

"(Owner) Ed Stanco said a long time ago that he would

really love to win the Alabama," Pletcher said. "After the Kentucky Oaks we

looked at the schedule and felt that if we were going to run twice, this would

be a similar program to what she had when she had a little bit of a break and

ran in the Gazelle and the Kentucky Oaks. Hopefully, this will set her up

nicely.

My Happy Face just made her first start for new trainer Chad Brown in the

June 13 Lotka at Belmont, pulling away for the 2 1/2-length score, and she'll

try to make it two in a row with Joel Rosario aboard in the CCA Oaks.

"I didn't know the filly all that well (before the Lotka)," Brown admitted.

"I was able to breeze her only three times before that race. (Former trainer)

Rudy (Rodriguez) had done a lot of the foundation work and sent her to me in

perfect shape. She came out of the race better than I expected. She really moved

forward off the race. I'm excited to run her."

The Tiz Wonderful gray filly has competed just one other time this season,

finishing second in the Forward Gal, and showed much more as a juvenile. My

Happy Face concluded 2012 with a neck win in the Tempted after just missing by a

head in the Frizette. She broke her maiden in her second try by 21 lengths at

Saratoga, so a return to this track may be just what she needs for the spark to

ignite once again in her first start beyond one mile and around two turns.

"When I was looking at her past performances when she was first transferred

to me, I was a little skeptical she'd be able to go two turns," Brown stated.

"With the way she is training, she is acting like it won't be a problem. We'll

just have to try it to know for sure."

The popular four-year-old half-sister to Horse of the Year and supermare

Zenyatta has competed just twice thus far, breaking her maiden last November by

4 1/4 lengths and taking an optional claimer by 1 3/4 lengths on January 17 at

Santa Anita. With the closure of Hollywood Park at the end of this year,

Shirreffs moved his horses to New York over the winter and Eblouissante settled

right in. The dark bay daughter of Bernardini on Sunday worked seven furlongs at

Belmont Park in 1:27 and gets a jockey switch to Junior Alvarado for her stakes

bow.

"After she arrived here she has started to fill out," Shirreffs

said of Eblouissante, an imposing filly who stands nearly 17

hands tall. "She has grown a lot and has put on a significant amount of weight,

so I'm really happy with the way she has developed over the last month. She

looks strong. I think time is the most important ingredient in a horse's

development. Their bodies need a chance to catch up."

Eblouissante, whose name means "dazzling" in French, is also under

consideration for an optional claimer around two turns on July 22 at the Spa.

While the popular filly will draw most of the attention, Authenticity and Summer

Applause appear to head the seven-distaffer field in the Shuvee. The former was

a hard-fought neck victress of the La Troienne under the Twin Spires on May 3

before just missing by a half-length in the Ogden Phipps last out. Pletcher gave

the six-year-old daughter of Quiet American a break following that May 27

contest, and she'll return here with Velazquez taking back the mount from Mike

Smith.

"She's been extremely consistent," Pletcher said of Authencity, who

is cross-entered in the Delaware Handicap on Saturday. "She's a

very straightforward mare to train; push button. It's a drop down from a Grade 1

but it doesn't appear to be an easy race if everyone shows up. We're not

anticipating they're going to give anything away at Saratoga; they usually

don't."