Hooh Why upsets rivals, and owner's plans, in Ashland

Hooh Why may get her shot in the Oaks (EquiSport Photos)

The plan, according to co-owner Mark Hoffman, was to point HOOH WHY (Cloud

Hopping) to the

$200,000 American One Thousand Guineas at Arlington Park on May 23 and then hopefully get an

invitation to the $700,000 American Oaks (G1) on July 5 at Hollywood Park.

That plan changed Saturday when Hooh Why hung on for a neck victory in the

$400,000 Ashland S. (G1) over Gozzip Girl (Dynaformer), with champion Stardom Bound

(Tapit) three lengths back in third. The Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 1 at

Churchill Downs could now be in Hooh Why's immediate future.

"I wasn't even thinking about the (Kentucky) Oaks," said Hoffman, who owns Hooh

Why with Gail Gee's Derby Daze Farms. "But now I know I am going to get

questions about it. I have to decide whether I want to turn her over to Wayne

Catalano or I might ship her to Churchill Downs. I don't know yet."

Hoffman is not worried about the filly's ability to handle the dirt. The

chestnut's only dirt start to date came as a third-place finish in the Sandpiper

S. at Tampa Bay Downs on December 27.

Stardom Bound was unable to continue her win streak in the Ashland (Benoit Photo)

In other Ashland news, trainer Rick Dutrow reported that Stardom Bound, who had her five-race Grade 1

win streak snapped in the Ashland, was doing well the morning after.

"She looks good and ate up

last night," said Dutrow, who added that no decision had been made on the

filly's next race.

WHAT A PEAR (E Dubai), another who was trying to keep a win streak going,

suffered her first career loss when finishing ninth and last in the Ashland. Trainer Joe Parker and his wife, Betsy, were

obviously disappointed that their

filly didn't perform better, but said they were excited to be a part of a day when Keeneland drew 30,550

fans. The figure represented the fifth-largest crowd in track history.

"It was so amazing to see all those people," said Betsy Parker while standing

outside Barn 3 where What a Pear grabbed at the hay net at her stall door.

Joe Parker said jockey Channing Hill told him after the Ashland that What a

Pear, who races for Ira and Bernice Cohen's Tri-Bone Stables, did not care for

the Polytrack in her first trip over the surface. The trainer wondered if the

filly might have fared better if she had taken the early lead. The New York-bred

What a Pear raced in third behind pacesetter and eventual winner Hooh Why before

fading as the horses turned for

home.