Lovely Maria Wins Kentucky Oaks

Not So Stellar Trip For Stellar Wind Results Lovely for Lovely Maria

By: Claudia Lorena

Churchill Downs saw a record crowd gather under and around the iconic twin spires, 123,763 spectators strong on Friday, May 1st for the 141st running of the Longines Kentucky Oaks.

Kerwin D Clark was aboard Lovely Maria when she galloped to a 2 ¾ length victory for trainer Larry Jones and owner Brereton Jones. Last month, Clark won his first graded stakes race in the Ashland at Keeneland atop this same filly, making their Oaks ride even sweeter. Overwhelmed by emotion, the 56-year-old jockey wiped tears of joy from his face during the trophy presentation.

“It’s such a feeling,” he said of the filly. “I can’t really tell you… [Lovely Maria] has just been getting better and better every time she’s run.”

Sired by Thunder Cup and a grand-daughter to Thunder Gulch, who won the Kentucky Derby with Gary Stevens in the irons back in 1995, Lovely Maria was 5-1 on the morning line and went off at 6-1 before the race. She had a perfect trip and returned $14.60 on a $2 bet.

As for Stellar Wind, the fourteen-horse field resulted too much for the filly, who got caught in traffic the whole way around. Placed too far back, she ran into traffic and had to slam on the breaks a couple of times. It was enough to disrupt her rhythm and she had no shot of recovering.

“She just got roughed up at the start,” trainer John Sadler explained of her trip. “You can’t be that far back, and she was. She was last around the first turn and the winners were all up close, so she never had any position.” As far as future plans go, he said, ” We’ll take her back to California, freshen her up and then decide what to do next.” Stellar Wind finished 4th – 4 ¾’s lengths behind Lovely Maria, with Shook Up in 2nd, I’m a Chatterbox in 3rd and Birdatthewire just behind in 5th to complete the super high five – which returned a monstrous $30,843 on the dollar. The $0.10 superfecta returned $412.66, while the $2 trifecta paid $1,562.80, and $2 exacta $296.

In the days leading to the Kentucky Oaks, Lovely Maria had been training very well and trainer Larry Jones had a good feeling. “I had said that if we were making a movie to do this, this would have been the work that we would have put in for the movie where it was so picture perfect. She really did everything right.”

Owner Brereton Jones was equally as thrilled with the win. “Let me begin by saying that my family and I are blessed. This happened because of a big team effort. Because the people on our team have done great things. I really feel like we brought a lot of great people together to accomplish this and we are so thankful.”

Kentucky Derby 141 Is Upon Us

With Stanford and El Kabeir out, and rumors of Ocho Ocho Ocho being off, things are starting to feel like they’re falling apart. Just hours away from the running of the 141st Kentucky Derby, the uncertainty of what will come is almost impossible to ignore.

Bob Baffert, along with the rest of the viewing public, will witness Dortmund and American Pharoah face-off for the very first time, at approximately 6:34 PM ET. Many questions hang over our heads when considering American Pharoah: the outside post is not too awful, but after witnessing the trip Espinoza had aboard Stellar Wind, could a situation like this present itself for the favorite in the Derby? And, if it does, will he be psychologically capable of overcoming it? What about Dortmund? Will he come out on top, or will a random long-shot steal the show and gallop to an unforeseen victory? For now, we must learn to live with the anxiety of the unknown. The Kentucky Derby is upon us. The clock is nearing the “greatest two minutes in sports.”

Photo Courtesy: David J. Phillip