Grace Hall looking good against a nicely shaped Kentucky Oaks field
There is some serious talent in the 3-year-old Kentucky Oaks bound fillies, who have gone through the Oaks prep races and now are ready to for the main showdown at Churchill Downs on 4 May, 2012.
Some of these fillies have shown brightly in their juvenile careers, winning important races and taking down field to earn enough graded stakes earnings to be part of the Oaks, but some of the Kentucky Oaks contenders have emerged on the scene recently by
winning one of the major prep races for the Kentucky Oaks.
There are also those who have done well both in their juvenile and sophomore season, and the Anthony Dutrow trained 3-year-old filly Grace Hall comes to mind who has displayed some remarkable performances this year and the last.
Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables, and The Elkstone Group owned Grace Hall has never finished worse than second in 6 career starts, and these credentials are noteworthy going into the Kentucky Oaks.
In her juvenile season, she broke her maiden at first asking and immediately landed the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga at about seven furlongs.
Stretched out in distance, the filly had to go long in the Blue Hen Stakes at about 1 mile and 70 yards, but she relished the challenge and finish on top of the pile once again at Delaware Park this time.
The Empire Maker filly was a whisker away from winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies from winner My Miss Aurelia, as she fell a stride or two adrift of the winner.
This year she started at Gulfstream Park, and nearly kicked it off with a win, but Yara kept her at bay to finish second and claim the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes.
Stretched out in distance to 1 1/8 miles, Grace Hall had a perfect ride under Javier Castellano to bag the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks.
“When you look at her numbers, you’re not going to see a sensationally fast horse, but she just runs against the best class there is and she’s always a handful to compete with,” said Dutrow of Grace Hall, who will ship to Churchill May 1. “None of (her
victories) have been surprising…she has shown a nice kind of horse from the time she walked into the barn.”
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