Eyes on Eddy and Enduring Will, the second and third-place finishers behind Summerly in the Silverbulletday, as well as impressive Fair Grounds maiden winner Soul Search from trainer Neil Howard's barn, are also expected to start. Memorette is expected to ship in from California. Other possible entries include Charming Colleen and Carlea.
A pair of top 3-year-old fillies will clash when Summerly and Runway Model hook up in the March 12 Fair Grounds Oaks (gr. II), going 1 1/16 mile at the New Orleans oval. Runway Model will be making her 3-year-old debut, while Summerly has two wins to her credit this season.Summerly, a 3-year-old daughter of Summer Squall trained by Steve Asmussen, has crushed her rivals in a pair of local efforts, beginning with a 9 3/4-length romp in an entry-level allowance race in her seasonal debut in January. She returned last month to capture the Silverbulletday Stakes (gr. III) by a comfortable 3 1/4 lengths in a performance that was nearly a full second faster than the boys ran in the Risen Star Stakes at the same distance. Both races were at the New Orleans oval.Summerly zipped a half-mile March 7 in :48.20 in her final work before the Fair Grounds Oaks.Trained by Bernie Flint, Runway Model enjoyed a busy but stellar 2-year-old campaign that saw her win a pair of grade II stakes, as well as run a troubled third to divisional leader Sweet Catomine in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I).In her first start on Lasix in the Alcibiades (gr. II) at Keeneland, the daughter of Petionville rallied to victory, and returned to Kentucky after the Breeders' Cup to defeat Summerly in the Golden Rod Stakes (gr. II) at Churchill Downs to close out the year. Runway Model has been training forwardly for Flint from her Oaklawn Park base.The Fair Grounds Oaks is expected to only have a field of six due to the presence of Summerly and Runway Model.