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00:00Named for the great Bayakoa, the Hall of Famer Eclipse Award winner in 1989 and 1990, two-time Breeders' Cup Distaff winner.
00:10She was a nice one, Alexa, and we're going to talk about some fillies and mares in here who are hoping to use this as a stepping stone to the apple blossom a little later on in the year at Oak Lawn Park.
00:20Let's meet this field from the inside. We have Corningstone. She has won two stakes races at Oak Lawn in a row.
00:27So she's sharp, and she's won the local races, and when you look at her form, she's now a five-year-old.
00:32She has won stakes races at two years old, three years old, four years old, and now at five years old, which is really impressive.
00:40Yeah, just like my Chiefs. She's trying to make a three-peat here at Oak Lawn.
00:46Nice. You were waiting for that one. I know you were.
00:48I was so ready for it. When I wrote that last night, it made me smile.
00:53Two stakes wins in a row, trying to go for the third, and just like my Chiefs, she is favored to do so.
00:59Really talented horse, tactical speed, won in a variety of pace scenarios, so I think she should be able to roll with the punches.
01:07This is a really difficult race, though, and a lot of the main contenders are low odds, so it's a difficult race to bet.
01:14There's a field of six. It wouldn't shock me, honestly, to see five of them win this race.
01:21Maybe one of the horses we'll talk about seems a little bit overmatched, but there's a lot of different ways you can go in this small field.
01:27WildaboutHillary has won two of her last three. What I will say, though, her best races seem to come on the sloppy tracks on an off track,
01:35so you might want to upgrade her if it's a little wet there on Saturday.
01:38Yeah, that's exactly what I have written. Coming off that stakes win, but in the slop and a horse that likes to lead,
01:44and slop definitely gives an advantage to a horse who's going to make the front.
01:48So, you know, that's the fastest figure she'd ever run, and you have to be a little hesitant about how good of a performance that was,
01:56or how was she super aided by the surface condition, but yeah, if it rains tomorrow, throw her in there. Otherwise, I'm passing.
02:03A lot of times, one or two horses will like the off track in the rain, and then the rest of the horses don't,
02:09so they kind of back up, and sometimes those races are a little deceiving because you're not necessarily beating the best of those horses that you faced.
02:17The number three, little Jamie, just consistent and sharp, and what I like about this filly, Alexa, she's versatile.
02:24She showed us last time out she can win coming from off the pace. Two starts back, she showed speed,
02:29so in a small field like this where there are some tough competitors, I think she can show multiple dimensions in here.
02:35She seems pretty solid and like an honest fit with these.
02:38She has a shot, absolutely. That most recent win was at today's distance.
02:43I know that. I think you like her a little more than I do in here, but it's just a tough race, but she's very talented,
02:49and like you said, very versatile, has that tactical speed.
02:52It really does seem like there are five of these that kind of make sense,
02:55and you have to sort of put them in the order that you think is best,
02:58and the one that I would be surprised to see win this race, Alexa, would be Beaudra,
03:04who has just kind of been overmatched in the last couple.
03:07She faced Corningstone in two of her last three races, and she's just been well defeated.
03:11I think she was almost 60-1 when she faced her last time.
03:14Yeah, nothing else I can add to that. I'm passing.
03:17You see, on the pace projector, she's lasted everyone's opinion.
03:21The number five free like a girl, this is the all-time richest Louisiana bred in the history of horse racing.
03:28This is a 19-time stakes winner, and a horse who has won 21 of her 47 lifetime starts.
03:36They have handled her really, really well.
03:39They've put her in spots that make sense, and then every now and then,
03:42they'll step up and face a tougher group, and she's been really competitive.
03:46I love rooting for horses like this.
03:48Again, this is a tough group, so I don't necessarily have her on the top end,
03:53but, I mean, it would not shock me to see her competitive in here,
03:56and we're going to see the richest Louisiana bred running on Saturday.
03:59Like, what a gritty, incredible mare.
04:02I do have her on top. I love free like a girl.
04:05I mean, she's won over $2 million, and like Gino was saying, those wins have come in real-deal races.
04:11She's been running exclusively in stakes races since 2021.
04:15So you know what you're getting here, and what you're getting is a very talented mare.
04:19The number six will round out the field. She will be loved.
04:23Loved is the probably horse to beat.
04:26I think she has a ceiling that's higher than anyone's in here.
04:29She's the only graded stakes winner in the field, but she has not raced since the end of November.
04:35So it's a few months off for her.
04:36This is kind of the starting point for her,
04:38where a few of these others might be a little sharper at the current moment, Alexa.
04:42Give us some thoughts on loved.
04:43Loved absolutely can win this race.
04:46The only thing that I can throw out there to maybe downgrade her a little bit
04:50is the last time she ran a really big race and then had two months off.
04:53When she came back, she flopped.
04:54So from that perspective, I have downgraded her to my third selection.
04:58Well, let's check out selections as we finish up this week's show.
05:01I'm going to put the three on top.
05:03Alexa will go with the five that Louisiana bred.