Ruby's Reception Beats Favorites in Fantasy

Ruby's Reception mowed down favorites Go for Glamour and My Trusty Cat in the stretch to register a mild upset in Friday's $200,000 Fantasy Stakes (gr. II) at Oaklawn Park.

With Terry Thompson aboard, Ruby's Reception waited patiently at the rear of the six-horse field while Go for Glamour, at odds of 8-5, and My Trust Cat, the 6-5 favorite, dueled on the outside of Harbor Blues throughout the 1 1/16-mile test for 3-year-old fillies. The daughter of Rubiano responded with a five-wide move with about three furlongs to run and edged clear to win by 2 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:44 3/5 on a fast track.

Harbor Blues and jockey Jamie Theriot finished gamely to edge Go of Glamour and Alex Solis by a length for the place, with My Trusty Cat and Donald Pettinger settling for fourth.

Harbor Blues grabbed the lead from My Trusty Cat shortly after the break and posted solid fractions of :22 4/5, :45 4/5 and 1:11 after six furlongs while under heavy pressure from Go for Glamour and My Trust Cat every step of the way. Go for Glamour led briefly down the backstretch before Harbor Blues fought back to regain the advantage.

Owned by Michael Pressley's Oasis Racing LLC and trained by Larry Jones, the gray filly Ruby's Reception was making her second start since finishing 10th in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I), the only time she has been out of the money in a nine-race career. She earned $120,000 for the victory.

In her most recent race, the Honeybee at Oaklawn on March 8, Ruby's Reception was five lengths behind My Trusty Cat. Runner-up to Westerly Breeze in October's Alcibiades (gr. II) in the slop at Keeneland in October, the Fantasy was her first graded stakes victory. She now has four wins, three seconds and a third with earnings of $344,230.

Avalon Farm in Kentucky bred Ruby's Reception, a $12,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase.

A candidate for the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) on May 2, Ruby's Reception was 42-1 at the close of last weekend's Oaks future wager.

Sent off as the third choice at 9-2, the winner paid $11.40, $5 and $3.20. Harbor Blues returned $16.40 and $7.20. Go for Glamour showed at $2.20. The $2 exacta was worth $127.20.

(Chart, Equibase)