Eight Is Enough for CCA Oaks

Led by a pair of last out Grade I winners, Sunday’s Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga has plenty to offer.

Curalina (Curlin) returns after posting an improbable win in Belmont’s GI Acorn S. June 6. The chestnut rallied smartly to get there by a neck after getting squeezed badly at the start. She posted a runaway optional claiming tally around two turns at Churchill May 1 and is currently riding a three-race winning streak.

“We’re very excited about the way she’s been training,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners colorbearer. “Her works up here have been especially good. Our concern in the Acorn was backing up to a mile. Then, she got sandwiched at the start and pinched back to last. The way she overcame that adversity to win was quite impressive. Stretching back out to two turns going 1 1/8 miles should suit her very well.”

Include Betty (Include), a troubled eighth in the GI Kentucky Oaks, closed into a slow pace to finish a solid second behind front-running upsetter Keen Pauline (Pulpit) in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. at Pimlico May 15. She was a powerful last-to-first winner over Wonder Gal (Tiz Wonderful) and Chide (Blame) in Belmont’s GI Mother Goose S. June 27.

Chide, a first-level allowance winner beneath the Twin Spires May 31, overcame a very wide journey to just miss second by a nose in the Mother Goose. “She certainly acted like she fit in in the Mother Goose, and acquitted herself just fine in her fourth start,” said Al Stall, who, of course, also trained her sire. “You have to take your time with the Blames, and she’s the spitting image of her father in her head, her walk. She reeks of class and she’s so easy to deal with. Come to think of it, her father was undefeated at Saratoga, so that’s another positive.”

Morning-line favorite I’m a Chatterbox (Munnings) was the talk of the division earlier this winter/spring at the Fair Grounds. She followed a runaway wire-to-wire win in the Silverbulletday S. Jan. 17 with impressive tallies in the GIII Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 21 and GII Fair Grounds Oaks Mar. 28. The versatile Gray homebred rallied from far back to complete the trifecta behind her stablemate Lovely Maria (Majesticperfection) in the Kentucky Oaks most recently May 1. She has been firing plenty of bullets for trainer Larry Jones at Delaware since.