Princess of Sylmar shocks Kentucky Oaks at 38-1

Princess of Sylmar had a four-race win streak broken

when second to Close Hatches in the Gazelle at Aqueduct on April 6, but avenged

the loss against that rival, as well as eight other top-notch runners, when

capturing the Grade 1, $1 million

Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs.

With Mike Smith aboard, the Majestic Warrior filly came a bit wide around the

final turn and ran down juvenile champion filly Beholder to finish up nine

furlongs on the fast dirt in 1:49 in front of a 113,820 strong crowd, the second

largest in Oaks Day history.

"It was

extremely rough leaving there. We got banged around pretty good but she settled

right into stride," Smith said. "After that, I just rode her like Todd had told me to, to be

honest with you. They thought they had moved a little early last time out and to

really be patient. And when you think it's time to move, maybe even be a little

more patient. It really worked out great."

Trainer Todd Pletcher had four fillies entered in the race, but it was 38-1

longshot Princess of Sylmar who got the victory over her much more heralded stablemate

and 3-2 favorite Dreaming of Julia to return $79.60, $29.40 and $14 in the

second biggest upset in Oaks history.

Midnight Lucky took up pacesetting duties when the gates opened, with

Beholder and Unlimited Budget taking up stalking duties to her outside through

splits of :22 4/5, :46 3/5 and 1:11 1/5. Silsita was saving ground on the rail

to Unlimited Budget's inside, but Princess of Sylmar bided her time near

the rear of the field.

Midnight Lucky started to tire following her front-running duties, leaving

the way clear for Beholder to take command in the stretch. That temperamental

filly, who dumped jockey Garrett Gomez right before the gate, briefly appeared a

clear winner but Princess of Sylmar was coming fast down the center of the

track. The chestnut miss easily passed the Eclipse Award winner to earn her

first graded victory in only her second try.

"She ran

great and I'm proud of her. But she might have lost this race in the post

parade," trainer Richard Mandella praised Beholder. "She was so full of herself and so wanting to go, that she was a handful

in the parade and she gave the pony a heck of a time. Oh, well.

"At home, we can

get her to settle down, but here -- with all the people -- it was a different

story. But she ran well and we're proud."

"She lost it in

the post parade. I knew that might jeopardize her performance a little bit,"

Gomez agreed.

"After everything that happened, she still ran a tremendous race. Better than to

be expected after the antics she pulled in the post parade. She almost fell down

and rolled in the post parade and lost it going to the gate.

"After she got up on

her feet leaving the gate and settled nicely, turning for home she

put the other filly away in a heartbeat. If she didn't pull those antics in the

post parade, she might have had a chance to win."

"She lost it out of the gate," he added about Dreaming of Julia. "She got

creamed coming out of there and it is hard to overcome that sort of thing. She

tried hard to make it up and I thought she ran very courageously. But it was too

much to ask."

"That

did it all, right from the start. She got pinched out of there and the race was

over," jockey John Velazquez affirmed about Dreaming of Julia.

"She still ran a great race. I saved all the ground I could and try to give

myself a chance to win the race. She made a nice run but it was too much ground

to make up. The first jump she didn't break very good and the horse next to me

bounced her and then she sucked out of there. And that was it. You're done."

Princess of Sylmar opened her career for owner/breeder Ed Stanco's King of

Prussia Stable with a fourth-placing at Penn National

last October, and stayed at that venue to break her maiden by 19 lengths in

early November. Pletcher shipped the Pennsylvania-bred miss to Aqueduct for her

juvenile finale, and Princess of Sylmar came up with a 5 1/4-length score over

the inner dirt.