It’s Anyone’s Game in Grade II Celine Stakes (Oklahoma)

A slight risk of severe weather lies just to the north of the track this weekend when seven young fillies take the track in Oklahoma for this year’s Grade II Celine Stakes.  On most weekends during the month of May, the only thunder you will hear is from storms that rock this plains state in the middle of the country.  However, on this weekend, you will hear thunder coming down the track as all but two of these girls will fight for their first ever Graded win.  A little over a mile, on the turf, 2:30 PM.  Who’s going to take the field by “storm” this year?  Let’s meet the contestants.

 

PP #1 Day of Curosities (kingab)—3/1

 

Probably the biggest challenger in the field that doesn’t have a Graded win is Day of Curosities.  This young girl just recently made the switch to the turf and it has made all of the difference.  The daughter of Tapit is undefeated on the turf after garnering just three wins in six tries on the dirt.  In her only listed stakes attempt on the dirt, this girl managed just a 5^th place finish.  After making the switch to turf two races back, she managed to best an Allowance field at the NW4L level and then ran a career best speed figure of 99 last time out in a listed stakes win. That too was a win for this girl.  The big question is what kind of race will she try to run?  In the first allowance race on turf, she stayed near the front.  This was just a four horse field though.  Then last time out, she sat near the back before making a very late push for the win.  Both races on turf have come at this distance.  She certainly has a shot in this one for her first Graded win.

 

PP #2 One F Curlin (loubrown)—2/1

 

The class of this field, Graded Stakes wise, is probably this young filly out of Curlin.  The only thing about this one is that this will be her first test in the Graded ranks on the grass.  She does have three allowance races under her belt on the grass as a 2YO.  In those three races, she finished first in two of them and second in the other.  She then made the jump back to the dirt where she won a Grade III and Grade I stakes race before running a career best 102 speed figure in the lool Oaks.  From there it was on to Kentucky where, on the sloppy dirt, she managed just a 9^th place finish in the 14 horse field.  While she hasn’t failed to hit the board on the turf yet, she also isn’t as battle tested on the grass as some of these other runners.  How will the switch to turf affect this girl?  Can she match her output from her previous turf stint?  Those will be the questions today.

 

PP #3 Tap Street Deputy (larrcamp30)—7/2

 

Unlike the previous two gals, This will be the first filly in today’s race to have more turf races than dirt races under her belt.  After starting her career with two dirt races, she made the jump to the grass and has succeeded there ever since.  She failed to hit the board in her last race which was a 9 furlong listed stakes race.  Before this however, she was a solid 6/6 in hitting the board in turf races.  This included 5 allowance races and one listed stakes at 8.5 furlongs in which she won.  Her career best speed figure of 103 came two races back when she was able to best a seven horse field in a listed stakes in Minnesota.  Can she do the same here today?  She will need to sit back a little off the pace, however, if she falls too far behind like she did last time out, it could mean bad things for her moving into the later part of the race.  While I don’t think she will want to set the pace, she will certainly want to be in close proximity.

 

PP #4 Tormenta Total (nola)—10/1

 

As we reach the halfway point in our field, we have yet another filly who didn’t work out so well on the turf.  This girl will only be making her second start in anything above an allowance race.  However, her last time in stakes competition didn’t work out so bad as she managed a 2^nd place finish in a seven horse listed stakes field.  While it’s true that she isn’t as battle tested as some of the other girls in this field, she has yet to miss the board in seven tries on the grass.  That includes a few allowance wins and a maiden win.  While also true, that her first race didn’t go as planned on the dirt, it was also against open completion.  So the fact remains that she has yet to miss the board on the grass and she has yet to miss the board against filly only competition.  Don’t overlook this one.

 

PP #5 Lady Sansa (rickybobby8)—4/1

 

The four-year-old daughter out of Ghostzapper will be making her second career start in a Graded race this weekend.  Her first one didn’t go too bad as she managed a 2^nd place finish in the Grade III We Get Signal Stakes last time out.  She preceded that by winning three races in row on the grass in a maiden, allowance, and listed stakes wins.  She will look to take the lead early and expect this girl to be our pace setter as we break out of the gate this weekend.  In all but one of her wins, she has led wire to wire, and in every other race she has sat no further back than 2^nd at any point in the race.  We all know that it isn’t about where you start, but where you finish.  However, this girl has yet to sit any further back than 2^nd at ANY point in all five career races.  That right there is saying something.  Her career best 102 speed figure came last time out, and she has run two races in a row with +100 speed figures.  Look for her to set the pace early and possibly lead wire to wire.

 

PP #6 Exwest (elite2)—5/1

 

Our only filly this weekend who hasn’t been tested on the dirt is greatly tested on the grass.  The Exceed and Excel filly has 8/10 of her races against stakes competition where she has managed to win two listed stakes and two Grade III races so far in her career.  She is 9/10 in hitting the board in her career as well, but it must be noted that the only time she failed to hit the board was two races back in her first ever Grade I attempt.  In that race, she faded late to finish 9^th in the Grade I Vermont Is 4 Lovers.  She rebounded nicely last time out posting a solid 102 speed figure as she bested a 14 horse field to win by ¼ lenth in the Grade III We Get Signal Stakes.  In addition to One F Curlin, this girl is the only other filly this weekend that has a win in Graded Stakes company.  It is a tough field as we have noted many times today.  However, look for the number six horse to sit mid pack today in about the 3-5 position before making a late push for the lead.

 

PP #7 Tap A Sea (lightng120)—24/1

 

The longshot in the field today didn’t fare very well her last time out in the Grade III Darling Fred Stakes.  The Tapiture daughter took five races, two of those on the dirt, to break her maiden back in September of last year.  Since then, she has gone on to finish second in an allowance race before ripping off an allowance and listed stakes win.  She then managed to finish third in a listed stakes before faltering through most of the Grade III race mentioned above.  It must be noted that this will be the first race that this girl runs that is above the sprint/route mark.  Her previous long was the 7.5 furlong listed stakes race she ran two races back.  Therefore, it makes sense that she is the longshot in the race today.  She will look to sit toward the front of the pack in the race and will most likely need a little late push to take the win today.  It’s always a gamble taking a chance on a move in distance.  However, we have seen many a gambles pay off in the sim.

 

My Picks:

 

Win—Day of Curosities

 

Place—Lady Sansa

 

Show—One F Curlin

 

Superfecta Special– Exwest