An evenly matched field of 10 3-year-old fillies will go to post Sept. 18 in the second running of the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks. While the field is set, one of the biggest questions remaining is who the public makes the favorite in the country’s richest sprint for sophomore fillies.
The logical choice seems to be West Point Thoroughbreds’ Belle of the Hall, who comes into the race off a third place finish in the Test (gr. I) early in the Saratoga meet. Trained by Tom Albertrani, Belle of the Hall already has a stakes win under her belt, having captured the $200,000 Jostle at Philadelphia Park earlier this year. The daughter of Graeme Hall will break from post 3 under regular rider Ramon Dominguez.
Another entrant with a recent, solid performance in graded stakes company at Saratoga is Ronnie Lamarque’s Beyondallboundarys. Trained by Tom Amoss, Beyondallboundarys followed up an impressive win in the Dearly Precious at Monmouth with the leap into graded stakes last out, finishing third in the Victory Ride (gr. III) on Travers’ day. The Charles Town Oaks will be her first start beyond 6 1/2 furlongs. Deshawn Parker has the mount.
Richiegirlgonewild is the only entrant who comes into the race as a graded stakes winner, having won the Old Hat (gr. II) at Gulfstream earlier this year. Trained by Larry Rivelli, Richiegirlgonewild also owns a win over the track by virtue of an allowance win as a two-year-old but is winless since her victory in the Old Hat.
However, those three aren’t the only runners with graded stakes experience, as more than half of the Charles Town Oaks field has managed to hit the board in graded stakes this year—with five having done so since July 1. Joining them are Derwin's Star, a close up third behind Blind Luck and Havre de Grace in the Delaware Oaks (gr. II), C C's Pal who ran third in last month’s Monmouth Oaks (gr. III), and Bronx City Girl who hit the board in the Azalea (gr. III) at Calder in her last start.
Post time for the first race at Charles Town on will be 6 p.m. EST, with the Charles Town Oaks scheduled as the 10th race with a post time of 10:30 p.m.
$400,000 Charles Town Oaks (Race 10, 10:30 p.m. EST) 3YO Fillies, 7 Furlongs PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Southern Fireball, Travis Dunkelberger, 114, Doug F. O'Neill
2. Karmageddon, Sylvester Carmouche III,114, Douglas Nunn
3. Belle of the Hall, Ramon Dominguez, 120, Thomas Albertrani
4. Beyondallboundaries, Deshawn Parker, 120, Thomas M. Amoss
5. Down Town Allen, Mathew McGowan, 120, John A. Casey
6. Richiesgirlgonewild, Timothy Thornton, 123, Larry Rivelli
7. Derwin's Star, Kendrick Carmouche, 114, Steve Klesaris
8. C C's Pal, Eibar Coa, 114, Derek S. Ryan
9. Bronx City Girl, Elvis Trujillo, 114, Martin D. Wolfson
10. Come Sunday, Stewart Elliott, 120, John C. Servis
