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Summer Soiree holds on in Del Mar Oaks
The picture changed inside the final furlong, as the Shirreffs stablemates began to whittle down the deficit. The pair gained fast nearing the wire, but fell short, and Summer Soiree held on by a diminishing half-length to remain perfect from two starts on turf. She completed 1 1/8 miles in a sharp 1:46 2/5 on the firm course, the third-fastest Del Mar Oaks since the race was switched to turf in 1965, and paid $6, $4.40 and $3.80. "She did the same thing at Monmouth," assistant trainer David Rock observed. "We were hoping she would relax a little bit so he could wait a bit more, but she got pretty headstrong, I guess, so he had to go." "My first ride here -- wonderful," Saez enthused. "I couldn't want more than this. I knew we were going a little quick early, but she was comfortable. She handled it all well; she liked the turf. "When we went to the second turn, I said it was time to go. That was the plan. I wanted to put some lengths between me and the others. She picked it right up. I knew they were coming (in the lane) but I had to keep riding . I had to get her home. She did it. Thank God. "I talked to my friends -- Patrick Valenzuela and Mike Smith -- before I rode. They gave me some tips about the course. They told me about the turns and how they can fool you. It was good; it helped me. I'm glad to be in California. I love it."
Summer Soiree now sports an overall mark of 11-5-0-3, $371,680. The bay was initially campaigned by her breeders, Brereton and Bret Jones, along with Wahoo Partners. Trained at two by Cindy Jones, Summer Soiree broke her maiden by 6 1/4 lengths at Delaware Park in her fourth try, but her first over a route of ground. That was also an off-the-turf event, suggesting that even then her connections had an inkling of her future. She followed that effort with a pair of thirds, in the Blue Hen S. and in an allowance/optional claiming event. With Larry Jones back at the helm of the stable for 2011, Summer Soiree opened her sophomore campaign with a smashing 9 3/4-length score over allowance rivals at Oaklawn Park, and then romped in the March 26 Bourbonette S. (G3) on Turfway Park's Polytrack by a 10 3/4-length margin. Subsequently purchased by Team Valor and transferred to Motion, Summer Soiree made an inauspicious debut for the team when tiring to 10th after setting the pace in the May 6 Kentucky Oaks (G1). She rebounded impressively when switched to turf for the Boiling Springs, where she dominated by 8 1/2 lengths. "She was pretty headstrong when we got her," Rock noted, "but she has been starting to relax a little more. Hopefully, she'll keep that up." The Kentucky-bred was an RNA twice over, first for $70,000 as a Keeneland November weanling, then for $72,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling. Summer Soiree is the first stakes scorer out of the winning Mazel Tov (Mazel Trick), who is also responsible for the unraced juvenile colt Very Lucky (Istan) and a 2011 filly by War Front, a full sister to Summer Soiree. Mazel Tov is herself a half-sister to multiple Grade 3 victress Mil Kilates (Gold Alert), who was third in the 1997 Ruffian H. (G1). This is the family of Peruvian champion and Group 1 winner India Brava (Fast Gold) and Indian Horse of the Year Running Flame (Ind) (Steinbeck). Summer Soiree's fifth dam is multiple stakes heroine and influential broodmare Nalee (Nashua), a full sister to Hall of Famer Shuvee, who beat the boys in consecutive runnings of the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
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