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Switch takes the Hollywood Oaks

Switch had more than enough to hold Blind Luck (blinkers) in the Hollywood Oaks (Benoit Photos) Pedestrian fractions set by Camille C (Roman Dancer) allowed SWITCH (Quiet American) to get the jump on Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision) in Sunday's $150,000 Hollywood Oaks (G2), and the bay lass took full advantage of the situation to be clear by 1 1/4 lengths on the wire. The 5-2 second pick easily held her rallying rival at bay when finishing the 1 1/16-mile Cushion Track test in 1:44 2/5. Camille C grabbed the early lead and immediately settled into a loping pace that saw her spin off splits in :25 1/5, :50 and 1:14 2/5. Rafael Bejarano aboard Blind Luck allowed his filly to swing a bit wide around the first turn, but then took her to the inside to track the pace in fifth. All the while, Martin Garcia and Switch were keeping close attendance on Camille C and began their move as that one rattled off a mile in 1:38 2/5. A burst of speed carried Switch past the longtime leader, but Blind Luck was just uncorking her late run. Bounding along the inside in midstretch, the chestnut miss angled out and set her sights on Switch, but it was a case of too little too late as the bay three-year-old was already crossing under the wire. "It's a good thing that my filly decided to relax," Garcia said. "Earlier in the race she was a little bit rank. As soon as she relaxed at that point I knew I wouldn't have any problems. She was in a great position to get the jump on the other filly (Blind Luck). When I asked her to go she just took off."

"This fillly is tactical, so we knew she could get a really good position," trainer John Sadler said. "I looked up at the board and saw :25 and :50 and thought that's really strange. I didn't expect that slow of fractions. She has a really good turn of foot so I knew we'd get first jump on the other filly.

"Rosario got his signals mixed up," Sadler said of the jockey switch from Joel Rosario to Garcia. "He was supposed to come back and ride her today, this being a designated race and he had days, so somehow he thought he couldn't ride a designated race. So after he rode the Belmont ([G1] on Saturday), he went from Belmont to the Dominican Republic. I had to get a rider and Martin seemed like a good choice."

Switch paid $7.40, $2.80 and $2.20 while bearing the silks of owner C R K Stable, and Blind Luck gave back $2.20 and $2.10 as the 1-2 favorite. It was another three parts of a length back to Camille C, who ran a smart race to take third and return $3.20 at 19-1. Antares World (Decarchy) and Vision in Gold (Medaglia d'Oro) followed the top three under the line. The $1 exotics were worth $5.60 (exacta) and $23.30 (1-3-2 trifecta).

"He (Bejarano) could have layed a little closer maybe," stated Blind Luck's trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer.

Switch evened the score with Blind Luck after running third by half-length to that rival in the Las Virgenes S. (G1) in mid-February. Prior to that one-mile event, the lass had broken her maiden in her career debut on December 13 and finished third in the Santa Ynez S. (G2). Switch was given a chance to prove herself on dirt in her start following the Las Virgenes, but could only muster a tiring fourth in the Bonnie Miss S. (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

With not enough earnings to make the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Switch's connections gave her a short break and brought her back in the May 9 Railbird S. (G3). Returning to a synthetic track breathed new life in the filly, as she rallied to just miss by a half-length on the wire, and the bay finally earned that elusive first stakes win here while boosting her record to 6-2-1-2 and nearly doubling her career earnings to $189,600.

Bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, Switch sold for $150,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. She is out of Grade 3 winner Antoniette (Nicholas), who has also produced stakes scorer Keystone Gulch (Gulch), an unnamed yearling filly by Grand Slam and a 2010 Pleasantly Perfect filly. Switch's second dam, Tash (Never Bend), is noted for foaling French highweight and sire Mukaddamah (Storm Bird), Group 3 hero Tatami (Lyphard) and dual stakes victress Mariuka (Danzig), the latter of whom would go on to produce Grade 3 winner Lydgate (Pulpit).

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