Ria Antonia To Face The Boys In Upcoming Race

Looch Racing Setting Up Ria Antonia Against The Boys… Again 

By: Claudia Lorena

After a spectacular second place finish over a sloppy track in the Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows, Ria Antonia made quite the comeback, thanks in large part to her newly assigned jockey, Julien Leparoux. But connections of the 3-year-old filly are once again considering the possibility of running her against the boys.

Following the race on June 28th, the filly walked off the Prairie Meadows track with the confidence she had lacked ever since her Preakness Stakes performance on May 17th, when she was thrown into the lions den against some of the best 3-year-old colts in the nation and guided by an evidently reckless Calvin Borel. Borel’s questionable and amateur-like ride sabotaged any chance Ria had when he shot her to the lead alongside Pablo Del Monte for the first half of the race and ultimately burned her out – causing her to hit the wire 31-lengths behind California Chrome. The outcome of the Preakness Stakes run left many feeling sorry for the filly and the critics became skeptical of the intentions of her connections.

The decision to bring Leparoux into the equation has undoubtedly been one of the best decisions Loo0ch Racing has made in the last couple of months and Leparoux’s superb guidance was exactly what the filly needed. The June 28th outcome was a step in the right direction for Ria, who’s had an unstable season passing through the hands of various trainers and jockeys. The good news is that Thomas Amoss seems to understand the filly quite well and she has noticeably stepped up her game ever since Amoss took over as trainer.

While her current workouts show much improvement and have been extremely consistent, the thought of racing her against colts seems to be a rather daunting and inappropriate challenge considering the filly’s past performances. Simply put, just because she ran well in the Iowa Oaks does not mean she is ready to take on the boys. She needs more time to build up strength and feel good about herself before taking a worthwhile shot at the heavy weights.

While our sources have not yet confirmed that Ria Antonia will indeed run in an [undisclosed] upcoming race against the boys, they did mention that her connections are thoroughly discussing the matter, but that nothing has been set in stone. If they decide against it, they will continue with the original plan – aiming the filly for a start in the Gr.3 Monmouth Oaks, on August 9th.