Promise vs. Experience in Gulfstream Oaks

[Wandering Eyes]

Two lightly-raced 3-year-old fillies and two proven graded stakes contenders will face off in Saturday’s GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, with 100 qualifying points towards the GI Kentucky Oaks on the line.

Stetson Racing’s Point of Honor (Curlin) followed up a sharp debut score in a local off-the-turfer Dec. 16 with an impressive last-to-first success in the Suncoast S. last out Feb. 9 at Tampa. The George Weaver trainee returned to her Palm Beach Downs headquarters after a few weeks off and has drilled four times, punctuated by a half-mile bullet in :49 2/5 (1/9) Mar. 8.

Also unbeaten, albeit in one outing, is Peter Brant’s Dunbar Road (Quality Road). Picked up for $350,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, the bay was backed down to 8-5 favoritism debuting here Mar. 3 and ran away in the stretch to an 8 3/4-length success. The waters get much deeper here, however.

The no-show performance from champion Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) and the 51-1 upset pulled by Jeltrin (Tapizar) stole the headlines in the GII Davona Dale S. here Mar. 2, but Arindel’s Cookie Dough (Brethren) ran an admirable race in her own right and is a big threat in this spot. A dominant victress of two Florida Sire stakes last September, the homebred came off a five-plus month layoff and made all the pace in the Davona Dale, putting away Jaywalk, before just getting tagged in the last jump at 13-1. Her 90 Beyer for the effort is easily tops in this crew.

Champagne Anyone (Street Sense), a troubled fourth in the GII Golden Rod S. to finish her freshman campaign, came close to a breakout score when third by less than a length in the GIII Forward Gal S. before filling the same slot in the Davona Dale. The late-running sort adds blinkers this go-around.

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