Jockey Joel Rosario pilots Stir Crazy to victory in the 31st running of the Marie G. Krantz Memorial Stakes. (Hodges Photography / Amanda Hodges Weir)
Beckman trainee passes the Two Turns Test, Earns 20 Oaks Points
Fair Grounds Release
NEW ORLEANS, La.– Simply Joking passed the two turns test with flying colors, leading all the way in the $150,000 Fasig-Tipton Silverbulletday Stakes on “Road to the Derby Day” at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Winning the Road to the Kentucky Oaks prep race, the Whit Beckman trainee earned 20 qualifying points towards a “Run for the Lilies.”
“That was exactly how I thought it would go right there,” Beckman said.
Guided by Jamie Torres, the Whit Beckman trainee covered 1 mile 70 yards in 1:44.30 over a sloppy main track, finishing 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Bless the Broken. Beckman has now saddled the winners of both local Oaks preps, as Her Laugh took the Untapable in December.
“We’ve still got a lot of ground between here and (the Kentucky Oaks),” Beckman said. “We’re giving them each challenges and they’re accepting every one. We’ll see how it all falls and see (whether Simply Joking or Her Laugh) is better suited for the Rachel Alexandra.”
Stretching out to two turns for the first time, Simply Joking made an easy move to the lead and set honest early fractions of :23.70 and :47.53. Stalked by her stablemate Drexel Hill, the Silverbulletday winner was never menaced as neither Drexel Hill nor trackers Chasten and Golden Gamble could go on with her at the top of the stretch.
“I was very comfortable on her, the way she was traveling the track,” Torres said. “She did everything herself. She was a little bit green at the end waiting on company, but she was much the best. We thought she’d get better going two turns.”
Bless the Broken came on late to finish second in the Silverbulletday, scoring 10 points to the $1.5 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). Earning 6 points, Simply Joking’s stablemate Drexel Hill hung on late to finish third. The Beckman trainee now has 7 total with her fifth-place finish in the Untapable. Chasten ran fourth for 4 points. Adding to the 6 points she won when second in the Untapable, Golden Gamble ran fifth to earn 2 more for a total of 7 Oaks qualifying points.
Sent off as the 8-5 favorite, Simply Joking paid $5.40, $3.40, and $2.80.
Along with her debut win in the Letellier Stakes, Simply Joking is now a perfect in two races with $153,000 in earnings.
The next stop on Fair Grounds’ Road to the Kentucky Oaks is the $400,000 Rachel Alexandra (G2) on Feb. 15. Run at 1 1/16 miles, the Rachel Alexandra is the first Oaks prep on the calendar to offer 50-25-15-10-5 qualifying points.
Additional Quotes
Florent Geroux, jockey of fourth-place finisher Chasten (trained by Brad Cox): “It was a good trip–I was following the winner (Simply Joking),” Geroux said. “I feel like the lack of experience got her. It wasn’t the (sloppy) track. It was a bit disappointing, but I think this filly needs another race or two to get to where she’s capable of going.”
