A pair of undefeated fillies lead the way in a 10-horse, wide-open renewal of the Woodbine Oaks Sunday. Brent and Russell McLellan and Gerry Olguin's Lorena (Souper Speedy) is three-for-three and was most recently a front-running 3/4-length winner of the seven-furlong Fury S. July 10. The dark bay filly, 2-1 on the morning line, will be trying a route for the first time in Sunday's nine-furlong Oaks.
“She's just done everything so well,” trainer Stuart Simon said of the filly. “She keeps taking steps forward. I'm not concerned about the distance. I'm a little concerned about running back in three weeks. It's a cramped schedule, but there's also only one chance to win the Oaks.”
Also three-for-three is Kevin Drew's Jilli Marie (Dynamic Sky), who won the South Ocean S. at Woodbine last November. She just got her nose in front on the wire while making her return in a 6 1/2-furlong optional claimer last time out July 2. The bay filly is 8-1 on the morning line.
“She's a really gritty filly,” said trainer Katerina Vassilieva. “She has a lot of heart. She's such a small horse in stature, but she has a ton of heart. She tries so hard in all of her races. She's fearless, she's patient–she has all the right qualities of a really good racehorse.”
Breeze Easy's Curlin's Catch (Curlin), a 3-1 shot on the morning line, was a late-closing third in the Fury S. and would seem to be ideally suited to the Oaks's nine-furlong distance. The bay filly won the Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs in February before fifth-place efforts against top company south of the border in the Feb. 27 GII Davona Dale S. and Apr. 3 GI Ashland S.
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