Grace Hall faces six in Delaware Oaks; Bubbly Jane tops Robert G. Dick

Grace Hall faces six in Delaware Oaks; Bubbly Jane tops

Robert G. Dick

Grade 1 heroine Grace Hall tops a field of seven sophomore fillies entered in

Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000

Delaware

Oaks at Delaware Park.

In her most recent start, the locally-based daughter of Empire Maker -- who

broke her maiden at Delaware Park in her career debut on July 11, 2011 --

finished third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 4. The

winner of the Kentucky Oaks, Believe You Can, and the second-place finisher,

Broadway's Alibi, also broke their maidens at Delaware Park in 2011.

"It really is a small world, I mean who would have thought the three fillies

that broke their maidens at Delaware Park would have come back the following

year and ran one-two-three in the Kentucky Oaks," said Grace Hall's trainer,

Tony Dutrow. "It is a small world.

"In the Kentucky Oaks, we did not have any excuses. She went into the race

very well and obviously she ran well against the best fillies in training."

Grace Hall captured the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks by 6 1/2 lengths in late

March and, in her only other outing this year, finished second in the Grade 2

Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream in late February. In her most recent workout,

the bay miss breezed four furlongs at Delaware in :47 on Sunday in preparation

for this 1 1/16-mile event.

"Grace Hall is doing great," Dutrow added. "She could not be doing better. We

feel she is coming into the Oaks in excellent shape in every way. She was very

impressive in her last workout on Sunday."

Grace Hall followed her maiden win at Delaware last year with a victory in

the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga, a win in the Blue Hen Stakes back at Delaware

and a second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs.

Among those Grace Hall will face Saturday is fellow Dutrow trainee Wicked

Mizz. That Florida-bred gray ran second in the Limit Stakes at Aqueduct in her

stakes debut in March, then returned to notch a 2 1/4-length score in the Go For

Wand, the local prep for the Delaware Oaks, on June 9.

While Dutrow wasn't surprised by the Mizzen Mast filly's effort in the Go For

Wand Stakes, he was caught off guard by her $16.20 payout price.

"We thought Wicked Mizz was improving and was going to run a good race that

day," he said. "She had good form, she was lightly raced, but I am not sure why

she did not have more bet on her."

After the Delaware Oaks both Grace Hall and Wicked Mizz could be pointed for

stakes at Saratoga later this summer.

"If everything goes as planned, Grace Hall will point for the (Grade 1)

Alabama (on August 18) at Saratoga," Dutrow explained. "As far as Wicked Mizz,

she has a lot to prove, and we are hopeful she will."

Jerry Hollendorfer, who won the 2010 Delaware Oaks and the 2011 Grade 2

Delaware Handicap with champion Blind Luck, has entered Via Villaggio for

Saturday's contest.

After 11 starts in California, the Delaware Oaks will be the East Coast debut

for the daughter of Bernardini, who ran third in the Grade 2 Hollywood Oaks in

her most recent effort. The Kentucky-bred filly previously won the Grade 3

Railbird Stakes on Hollywood Park's Cushion Track.

"She seems to be coming around now and she has run nice races in her last

two," Hollendorfer remarked. "Her last two races were on artificial surfaces,

but we want to try her on the dirt. I would rather try her on the dirt instead

of the turf. Most of the races for her at Del Mar would be on the turf, as

matter of fact of all of them.

"I know we are meeting a tough filly (Grace Hall), but I wanted to try Via

Villaggio in this spot. The timing and the conditions fits with what I want to

do with her now. So if she does run well on the dirt, then it would open up a

lot more options for her."

Other contenders in the Delaware Oaks are Aubby K, a dark bay daughter of

Street Sense who was third in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes last out; and Grade

2-placed stakes victress Amie's Dini, a Bandini filly who is exiting an

eighth-place run in the Kentucky Oaks.

One race earlier on Delaware Park's Saturday card, Bubbly Jane rates as the

slight favorite in the Grade 3, $200,000

Robert G. Dick Memorial going 1 3/8-miles on the turf.

Bubbly Jane ran second, beaten 3 3/4-lengths, in the Robert G. Dick Memorial

last year, but the seven-year-old daughter of Yagil has made only two starts

since then. The Todd Pletcher-trained mare, who is a dual Group 1 winner in her

native Brazil, was unplaced in the Omnibus Stakes at Monmouth Park in September

and, in her only outing this year, ran second by a length in the Mohegan Sky

Stakes at Belmont Park on June 16.

Senada, the possible second choice in the eight-distaffer field, will be

returning off a third-place effort in the Grade 3 Bewitch at Keeneland on April

26. Previously, the five-year-old daughter of Pulpit ran seventh in the Grade 3

Orchid Handicap at Gulfstream on March 31.

Starting off the stakes action at Delaware on Saturday will be the $50,000

Oh Say

Stakes sending seven three-year-olds six furlongs.

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