On Fire Baby on top in the Honeybee Stakes
Trained by Gary Hartlage for owner/breeder Anita Cauley, On Fire Baby, winning the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes pose questions regarding her next start in front of her connections, it will be an interesting decision whenever they make it, but as one of the best
three-year-old fillies around, On Fire Baby proved it once again by being the odds on favourite, and justifying the support she downed, Amie’s Dini, by two lengths to win the $125,000 event, run over a distance of 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park’s dirt course.
The Kentucky bred daughter of Smoke Glacken, out of mare Ornate by Gilded Time, based on her condition coming out of the race, her connections will decide to whether to send her in the Grade 2, $300,000 Fantasy Stakes on 11 April or opt to go against the
males in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby. Whatever the decision she will stay at Oaklawn Park.
The 3-year-old filly went up against males in her last start, in the Smarty Jones Stakes where she finished a solid third to, Junebugred in the 1 mile test at Oaklawn Park.
Conditioner Gary Hartlage, have plenty of options right now, they have enough graded stakes earnings to go for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, and she might do well there as she is undefeated over at Churchill Downs in two starts, both grade 2 races.
"I’ve been training horses around here for 25 years and the last horses I’ve seen that trained like her were Curlin and Rachel (Alexandra) and I know that’s saying something, but she’s just so flashy. So professional; I’m the luckiest guy in the world to
be training one like her. If I had lost today, I would have had to go crawl in a gutter. It’s Anita’s birthday. She called it the best birthday she’s ever had. ”
The 2 to 5 choice in the Honeybee Stakes, On Fire Baby under Joe Johnson was in contention past mid stretch when she snatched the lead from pace setter, Amie’s Dini and pulled away nicely to open up a good advantage to down the race with the winning time of
1 minute and 43.64 seconds on a fast track.
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