Calamity Kate Wire-to-Wire in Delaware Oaks Upset
Updated: July 13, 2015 at 3:55 pm
In the last handful of years, winners of the GI Kentucky Oaks such as Proud Spell (Proud Citizen) and Blind Luck (Pollard’s Vision) were able to tack on a victory in the valuable GIII Delaware Oaks. Lovely Maria (Majesticperfection) was hammered into 1-5 favoritism to follow suit, but George and Lori Hall’s Calamity Kate (Yes It’s True), the longest price in the field at odds of 54-1, had other ideas and led them on a merry chase, scoring by 1 3/4 lengths. Lovely Maria settled in midpack and was four wide on the second turn, but could muster no late rally and finished fifth, triggering show payoffs of $79.40 for the winner, $29.20 for runner-up Peace and War (War Front) and $59.40 for Hip Hop N Jazz (Speightstown) in third.
Unplaced in two tries at sprint distances to begin her career, Calamity Kate returned a pair of $20 bills in breaking her maiden by six lengths over Belmont’s one-turn mile Sept. 11. A distant ninth to Peace and War in the GI Darley Alcibiades S. Oct. 3, she finished some 11 1/2 lengths adrift of front-running Condo Commando (Tiz Wonderful) in the nine-furlong GII Demoiselle S. at Aqueduct Nov. 29 and got a winter’s vacation. The coast-to-coast winner of a first-level Monmouth allowance going a mile May 17, the homebred was never able to get close to the lead in the June 6 GI Acorn S. on the Belmont S. undercard and was beaten over 18 lengths into eighth behind upset-minded Curalina (Curlin).
Drawn one from the outside here in stall seven, Calamity Kate pinged the gates for Edgar Prado and established a relatively easy lead as Our Mims S. winner White Clover (Exchange Rate) applied token pressure from second through an opening quarter-mile in a reasonable :23.63. Kerwin Clark had Lovely Maria in touch with the early pacesetters, though had no choice but to sit a three-wide trip down the backstretch, and was pushed out deeper still when Bar of Gold (Medaglia d’Oro) went for a run outside of White Clover rounding the second turn. Calamity Kate was still going well on the engine and as she raced past the five-sixteenths pole, Lovely Maria was being asked for her best while four away from the inside. But while the Oaks winner had little to offer over the final stages, Calamity Kate pinched a winning break into the final furlong and was comfortably in front on the wire. Peace and War slipstreamed Lovely Maria through the middle furlongs, made a bold move into the stretch and finished a good second, while Hip Hop N Jazz saved ground the entire trip and was along late for third.
Saturday, Delaware Park
DELAWARE OAKS-GIII, $300,375, DEL, 7-11, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:41.79, ft.
1–#@CALAMITY KATE, 117, f, 3, by Yes It’s True
1st Dam: Justmeandmyshadow, by Tiznow
2nd Dam: St. Helens Shadow, by Septieme Ciel
3rd Dam: Little Bar Fly, by Raise a Man
O-George & Lori Hall; B-K & G Stables (KY); T-Kelly J. Breen; J-Edgar S. Prado. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 8-3-1-0, $345,868. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Peace and War, 116, f, 3, War Front–More Oats Please, by Smart Strike. ($300,000 Ylg ’13 KEESEP). O-Qatar Racing; B-Sally J. Andersen (FL); T-H. Graham Motion. $60,000.
3–Hip Hop N Jazz, 116, f, 3, Speightstown–Solo Survivor, by Pleasant Tap. O-Heider Family Stables LLC; B-Courtney C. Heider (KY); T-Thomas F. Proctor. $33,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 3, HF. Odds: 54.40, 8.80, 25.90.
Also Ran: Bar of Gold, Lovely Maria, Danzatrice, White Clover, Milaya.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.