Oaks Is Off to a Fast Start

To those who like large fields, the $500,000 American Oaks, which will be run for the first time Saturday at Hollywood Park, is already a success.

Fourteen 3-year-old fillies are scheduled to run 1 1/4 miles on turf in the inaugural Oaks, which is the brainchild of racing secretary Martin Panza.

The American Oaks, with its abundant field and inclusion in a pick six with a $1-million guaranteed pool, makes for a great betting race. The Swaps Stakes and Hollywood Gold Cup, two graded races that will be run July 14, probably won’t have more than 14 starters combined.

Nor are any out-of-town shippers expected for the $750,000 Gold Cup or the $500,000 Swaps. Only four locals are running in the Oaks, with the rest of the field made up of fillies coming from, among other places, Florida, New York, Kentucky, Illinois, France, England and Ireland.

Believing California no longer has any races that mean anything on a national or international level, Panza is hopeful the Oaks can become an international event.

“There is room for this race to grow,” said Panza, who first started thinking about the race three years ago. “We’re hopeful it can grow into one of the American classics.

“We have 10 shippers for this race, and when was the last time that happened for any of our races out here?”

The Oaks is a welcome opportunity for 3-year-old turf fillies because there is no other race like it on the horizon. For example, Europeans who had participated in the French Oaks last month at Chantilly would have to wait until September for another chance to compete against their age group.

Del Mar features the San Clemente and Del Mar Oaks for the division. While those races normally attract good-sized fields, neither can match the purse of Hollywood Park’s newest race.

Panza hopes to lure horses from Japan, Australia and New Zealand for future races, but he is pleased with the field that will be in the starting gate Saturday.

“We would have liked to have had [Kentucky Oaks winner] Farda Amiga, but she got sick and it didn’t work out,” he said, adding he wants to increase the purse in the future and that additional sponsorship is being sought.

Of the locals, Megahertz is the filly to beat, although she got no favors when post positions were drawn Wednesday. The English-bred daughter of Pivotal, who is owned by Michael Bello and trained by Bobby Frankel, will leave from Post 13 under jockey Alex Solis.

A winner of one of eight starts in Europe, Megahertz hasn’t lost in four starts in this country. Her last win in the Honeymoon Breeders’ Cup Handicap over this turf course on June 6 was her best yet. Seemingly beaten with less than a furlong to run as the 13-10 favorite, she showed an amazing turn of foot to get up and beat Arabic Song, another Oaks participant, by three-quarters of a length.

Among the out-of-towners, Maliziosa and Cellars Shiraz arrive sharp. Owned and bred by Haras Santa Maria de Aras and trained by Bill Mott, Maliziosa has won three in a row at three tracks. This will be her toughest task after victories at Keeneland, Churchill Downs and Hawthorne. A daughter of Dynaformer, she will break from the rail in the large field and will be ridden by Mike Smith.

Cellars Shiraz, owned by Bitterroot Investments Inc. and trained by former NFL player Bill Caesare, has won four of her last five. Cornelio Velasquez, who has been aboard for five of the filly’s six wins, will ride her again.

From the inside out, here’s the rest of the field for the American Oaks: Cyclorama, Alozaina, Devon Rose, Distant Valley, Dublino, Ombre Legere, Clerical Error, A B Noodle, Saranac Lake and Risakverse. Linda Eder is the lone also-eligible and will race only if there is a scratch. Distant Valley and Ombre Legere will race coupled as the Gary Tanaka-owned entry.

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Patrick Valenzuela, who has a commanding lead in the Hollywood Park jockey standings, was off his mounts Wednesday. According to the stewards, Valenzuela didn’t ride so he could be with his father, who is hospitalized and listed in critical condition.