A one-time mixed martial arts fighter, Chel-C Bailey is making steady progress in her new line of work. Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort fans can attest after watching the jockey's first career stakes victory Saturday.
In her fifth year on the circuit, Bailey put Summer Shoes on the lead and let natural talent take over in the $150,000 Downthedustyroad Breeders', even throwing in a breather on the turn. The 5-year-old Commander's Shoes mare out of Summer Squall's daughter Summer Symphony, in her fourth local victory, put away defending champion and fellow 5-year-old Connie K, who challenged into the stretch for older Arkansas-bred females at 6 furlongs.
Kaboom Baby, also 5, got up for second under Luis Quinonez for trainer Ernie Witt. Connie K., the 7-5 favorite, ran third for Rafael Bejarano and co-owners Randy Patterson and trainer Randy Morse.
Summer Shoes opened a notch in the second quarter, racing in the clear after a fast-rated half in 45.80 seconds, and drew out by a length and a half in 1:10.68. As the second betting choice, she paid $6.40, $3.80 and $2.40, earning $91,650 for owner John Carver.
A frisky sort who resisted being broken until she was 3, Summer Shoes made her stakes debut Saturday, trainer Tom Swearingen scratching the filly from the 1-mile $150,000 Natural Breeders' last May because "she just didn't seem right."
Looking back, Swearingen said, "She just thought the thing to do was to go out there and buck the rider off and then just stand over them, just look at them like, 'See what I did.' I remember one occasion. It was at Arlington and we were going up to the track and she would do it out of nowhere. You wouldn't know it was coming. She threw a kid and he landed inside a dumpster. I thought, 'Oh, my God, she's killed him.' Bucked him off and just stood there. All of a sudden, here comes this kid crawling out of the manure dumpster. She had her moments."
Something clicked once Bailey got on Summer Shoes, the trainer said, and the filly was ready for an October 2021 start at Hawthorne. Second there, she reeled off three consecutive Oaklawn victories against state-breds. Before Saturday, a $106,000 first-level allowance victory last March aboard Summer Shoes marked the most lucrative for Bailey, who started riding as a 20-something apprentice in 2019.
"She's got a lot of heart," Bailey said in midweek. "She's, I feel, a superstar athlete. Even when I rode her against Connie K (three-quarter-length victory Dec. 30), that's like the first time having to take the stick out on her. She's very handy. She listens to your hands. I think she likes girls."
Bailey urged her gently with a right-handed stick when the closers started coming in midstretch.
"They get along beautifully together, they really do," said Swearingen after his second stakes victory of the meeting. Count de Monet won the $150,000 Advent for 2-year-olds Dec. 9 (opening day) with Santo Sanjur aboard.
Bailey becomes the first female jockey to win a stakes race at Oaklawn since Rosemary Homeister Jr. (now retired) in the Grade III $400,000 Fantasy in 2015, aboard Include Betty for trainer Tom Proctor.
Foaled at Pleasant Hills Training Center on North Moore Road in western Garland County, Summer Shoes is 4 for 6 with two placings for $285,050. The $200,000 Natural State Breeders' Cup in May, won last year by Shortleaf Stable's The Mary Rose, is a natural target.