By Jill Williams
All the hype about Oaklawn's GII Fantasy Stakes Saturday being a two-horse race was on the nose. 'TDN Rising Star' Quietside (f, 3, Malibu Moon–Benner Island, by Speightstown), so talented but so often a bridesmaid before winning the GIII Honeybee Stakes last out, faced unbeaten Simply Joking (Practical Joke), light on experience but winner of two black-type events at Fair Grounds. It was Quietside, the Shortleaf Stable homebred, who got the measure of Simply Joking Saturday and picked up 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. The Fantasy offered 200 qualifying Oaks points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to the first five finishers.
When the gates flew, it really was a two-horse race. As the dust settled, Simply Joking emerged with the lead, setting fractions of :23.89 and :48.09 while Quietside loomed menacingly to her outside in second. Simply Joking was doing it easily with her ears flicking back and forth until Quietside drew abreast and made it a race. They pulled clear of the rest, throwing down the gauntlet in the stretch, and battled every step of the way down the lane. Quietside got her neck in front about a furlong from home as Simply Joking stayed glued valiantly to her inside. Quietside outfinished her rival late, crossing the wire three-quarters of a length the best. Runnin N Gunnin (Gun Runner), third choice at 12-1, finished a distant third, 8 3/4 lengths in arrears.
“I knew it was a two-horse race and I just tried to apply as much pressure as I could without using too much, saving some for the end,” jockey Jose Ortiz told Maggie Wolfendale on TVG.
Quietside's trainer John A. Ortiz, who was featured in Saturday's TDN and discussed the inspiration he draws from the Star Wars story, was elated immediately following the Fantasy.
“The Force was with us today,” said Ortiz. “It was reassuring that we had the right horse who was talented, and everything I thought about this filly in the past was just that she needed time to develop. It's all here in front of us with the road to the Kentucky Oaks. I said patience. It was the key and she has given us more than we could have ever asked for. We didn't make a race because instead we have made a racehorse.”
Winner of her debut at Saratoga when named a 'Rising Star' last August, Quietside placed in both the GI Spinaway Stakes and the GI Alcibiades Stakes last fall behind eventual champion Immersive (Nyquist). She got away from Immersive in the GII Golden Rod Stakes only to run into undefeated Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro), the favorite for the upcoming GI Oaks. Second in her sophomore unveiling to Take Charge Milady (Take Charge Indy), a scratch from the Fantasy, Quietside put it all together in a deep renewal of the Honeybee Feb. 23. Second to her that day was Five G (Vekoma), winner of Saturday's GII Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park Oaks.
With the Fantasy victory, John Ed Anthony of Shortleaf Stables won his 40th stakes race in Hot Springs, an Oaklawn record. He is also the winningest owner in Oaklawn's history.
Pedigree Notes:
As a member of the final crop of Spendthrift's late Malibu Moon, Quietside could complete a coveted double for the son of A.P. Indy, who sired a GI Kentucky Derby winner (Orb, 2013) but not an Oaks winner to date. Quietside is one of 57 graded winners and 141 black-type winners for her sire, who was a homebred for Spendthrift's late B. Wayne Hughes.
Quietside is the first to the races for her dam, Benner Island, a GISP graded winner who was second in the 2017 Honeybee. A $200,000 Keeneland September purchase, Benner Island also raced for Shortleaf and is a full-sister to MGSW Victim of Love. Their sire, WinStar's late Speightstown, is broodmare sire of 77 stakes winners while their dam is from the immediate family of champion and Breeders' Cup winner Eliza (Mt. Livermore). Benner Island has a yearling filly by Bolt d'Oro and a Mar. 11-foaled colt by that same sire.
A battle to the finish with QUIETSIDE (Malibu Moon) coming out on top in the GII Fantasy Stakes at @OaklawnRacing, taking home 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks 🌸 pic.twitter.com/5Ux0yjT6wh
— TDN (@theTDN) March 29, 2025
Saturday, Oaklawn Park
FANTASY S.-GII, $750,000, Oaklawn, 3-29, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.31, ft.
1–QUIETSIDE, 122, f, 3, by Malibu Moon
1st Dam: Benner Island (GSW & GISP, $305,863), by Speightstown
2nd Dam: Spacy Tracy, by Awesome Again
3rd Dam: Tracy, by Theatrical (Ire)
'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Shortleaf Stable (KY); T-John Alexander Ortiz; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $405,000. Lifetime Record: MGISP, 7-3-3-1, $957,200. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Simply Joking, 122, f, 3, Practical Joke–Imply, by E Dubai. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($65,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-Grantley Acres, Ryan Conner, and Berkels0813; B-Barlar, LLC (PA); T-D. Whitworth Beckman. $135,000.
3–Runnin N Gunnin, 122, f, 3, Gun Runner–Charity Belle, by Empire Maker. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($250,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-Douglas Scharbauer; B-Dixiana Farms LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $67,500.
Margins: 3/4, 8 3/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 0.60, 3.00, 12.60.
Also Ran: Princess Em Too, Kinzie Queen, Princess Aliyah, California Sunset, Necessity, Baytown Butterfly. Scratched: Take Charge Milady.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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