Five fillies with graded stakes wins on turf and a pair from renowned European trainer Dermot Weld are among 14 invitees to the $700,000 American Oaks (gr. I) at Hollywood Park July 5.
The race is run over 10 furlongs on the turf.
The U.S. contingent includes Gozzip Girl, winner of the Sands Point (gr. IIT) at Belmont Park; Afternoon Stroll, winner of the Appalachian (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland; Acting Lady, winner of the Providencia (gr. IIT) at Santa Anita; and a pair of Hollywood Park graded winners — Senorita (gr. IIIT) winner Mrs Kipling and Honeymoon (gr. IIT) winner Well Monied.
Among the others:
The Best Day Ever was beaten a neck in the grade III Regret Stakes at Churchill Downs, the race Pure Clan used as a springboard to a victory in the 2008 American Oaks.
Century Park, fourth in the Honeymoon, won the grade III Santa Ysabel on Santa Anita’s synthetic surface in January.
Maidens Dance Pass and Rare Ransom are conditioned by Weld, who sent Dimitrova from abroad to win the 2003 Oaks. Another European invitee, three-time winner Apple Charlotte, is trained by Henry Cecil.
Puttanesca, a winner of one of three starts in New Zealand, is another foreign invitee to the Oaks.
The list also includes Honeymoon third-place finisher Lexlenos, Sands Point fourth-place finisher Magical Affair, and Santa Anita Oaks and Hollywood Oaks runner-up Third Dawn.
The complete list of American Oaks invitees follows: Acting Lady, trained by Doug O’Neill; Afternoon Stroll, Timothy Hamm; Apple Charlotte, Henry Cecil; Century Park, Bob Baffert; Dance Pass, Dermot Weld; Gozzip Girl, Thomas Albertrani; Lexlenos, Patrick Gallagher; Magical Affair, Michael Matz; Mrs Kipling, Neil Drysdale; Puttanesca, Wayne Hillis; Rare Ransom, Dermot Weld; The Best Day Ever, Ken McPeek; Third Dawn, John Sadler; and Well Monied, Howard Zucker.
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