HOT SPRINGS -- The Pippin Stakes starred Saturday at Oaklawn Park, but three races with budding 3-year-olds played a supporting role to the hilt.
Farrell, the 2-1 favorite ridden by Channing Hill, won the $125,000 1 1/16-mile Pippin Stakes for fillies and mares 4 years old and up by ¾ of a length over Ever So Clever in a field of eight. Streamline was third, 3½ lengths back of the winner.
The 4-year-old Farrell, trained for owners Robert Cummings and Annette Bacola by Wayne Catalano, led gate-to-wire in her first attempt against older company, despite a late scare.
Ever So Clever, with jockey Luis Contreras up for trainer Steve Asmussen, was in third and full of momentum, 4½ lengths behind the winner at the head of the stretch. By the 16th pole, Ever So Clever had pulled within a length and looked geared for victory.
But Farrell dug in, and the contest for first and second was decided with 50 yards left to run in Farrell's first race at Oaklawn.
"That filly put a little pressure on her, but she showed her class by rallying again," Hill said. "But she's done that for me before. She really can't surprise me too much nowadays. Her class just pulls her through that stuff."
Catalano said he was encouraged by Farrell's response.
"That was very impressive," he said. "She's a good filly. She did a good job today against some older horses that can run."
Third place was contested to the wire.
Streamline, by Straight Line and trained by Brian Williamson, was troubled through much of the late stretch by shifting traffic patterns, each deftly avoided by Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens.
Streamline passed Terra Promessa near the 16th pole to move into third, 3 lengths behind the leaders, but Impasse -- who Streamline had passed in the final turn -- was making a late charge down the rail. She closed within a head in the final strides, but Streamline managed to stay clear through the finish.
"You know what, at first I thought she had third for sure, and then I started watching, and I was sweating a little bit until the finish, after the fact," Williamson said.
It was Streamline's second consecutive third-place finish in the Pippin and her first race since a third-place finish in the Grade I La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 5.
"Brian did such a great job with her being off that long and running her in a stakes this tough," Stevens said. "She will step way forward off this race."
Stevens had thrills throughout the day on the Pippin undercard for 3-year-olds.
Two of the races, the fifth and seventh on the card, were 1-mile optional $62,500 claiming races with first-level allowance conditions, with purses of $76,000. The third was for maidens -- with a handful bred for elite company -- going 6 furlongs for a purse of $75,000 in the day's final of nine races.
All three were ideal tests for potential Kentucky Derby worthiness.
Stevens rode Calumet Farm's Bravazo, by Awesome Again and guided by trainer D. Wayne Lukas, to victory by a neck over Ezmosh, trained by Brad Cox for Ahmed Zayat, in the fifth race. He also rode Lukas-trained Transgress, by Into Mischief and a maternal grandson of Malibu Moon, to his maiden victory in the ninth race.
He sounded confident that both would advance to higher levels.
"Bravazo's got a chance," Stevens said. "He turned into a man today. He won nice, and he'll go way forward off this, and Transgress, he's going to move forward, too. He's not just a sprinter. He's got real, natural speed."
Donnie K. Von Hemel trained Higher Power, by Medaglia d'Oro, to victory by ¾ of a length over 1-2 favorite New York Central in the seventh race. Higher Power, owned by Pin Oak Stables, won at 5-1.
AT THE POST
DAY 2 of 57 ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 15,500 TOTAL HANDLE $4,158,022 OFF-TRACK HANDLE $3,060,393 ON-TRACK HANDLE $1,097,629 TODAY’S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Gulfstream Park, 11 a.m.; Aqueduct, 11:20 a.m.; Laurel Park, 11:30 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Fair Grounds, 1 p.m.; Santa Anita, 2:30 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:45 p.m.
Sports on 01/14/2018