It's been 12 years since Graham Motion saddled a horse in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) when Team Valor's Summer Soiree led the Oaks charge for six furlongs before backpedaling to 10th down the Churchill Downs stretch. While those dreams were dashed, Motion has another chance to add Kentucky Oaks-winning trainer to his lofty resume with Affirmative Lady, winner of the April 1 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2).
A daughter of the late Arrogate, Affirmative Lady continued to blossom Saturday in her second race with blinkers, slicing past her rivals for a two-length victory in the $255,000 race at Gulfstream Park. The AMO Racing colorbearer solidified her slot in the Kentucky Oaks starting gate with the 100-point tally, vaulting her to second place on the Road to the Oaks leaderboard with 110 total points, trailing only Fantasy Stakes (G3) winner Wet Paint.
#4 AFFIRMATIVE LADY ran them down in the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks Presented by FanDuelTV (G2). The daughter of the late, great Arrogate had @luissaezpty up for trainer @GrahamMotion. pic.twitter.com/RlPZBYijKE
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) April 1, 2023
Sent off at 8-1 odds in part due to the presence of Davona Dale Stakes (G2) winner Dorth Vader and Todd Pletcher stakes-winning fillies Miracle and Atomically, Affirmative Lady somewhat flew under the radar in Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Oaks prep.
Although she had a sole win in five prior starts, a last-out maiden score Feb. 26 at the South Florida oval, the $400,000 2-year-old purchase had proven herself a more than capable performer as a juvenile, just missing to the highly regarded Julia Shining in the Demoiselle Stakes (G2) in only her third start.
Blinkers, which she adorned in her maiden win, and the increase in trip seemed to bolster Affirmative Lady into the stakes winner stratosphere. Hugging the rail under Luis Saez in fourth position down the backstretch, Affirmative Lady bided her time as pacesetters Flakes and Infinite Diamond dueled through an opening quarter in :23.73 and half-mile in :47.63.
Florida-bred Flakes proceeded to outrun her 30-1 odds as the field turned for home, turning in the performance of her career with a solid third-place effort for owners BC Racing.
It was into the turn where Saez angled Affirmative Lady off the rail and between the frontrunners, a tactic the filly executed with a resilient stretch drive, powering into the clear with a sixteenth to the wire. Sacred Wish rallied wide to edge the dogged Flakes for second. Neither filly is currently nominated for the Kentucky Oaks.
Affirmative Lady ($19) stopped the timer for 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.69 on a fast main track.
"I'm thrilled, extremely happy," Saez said. "Graham always does a great job with his horses, and that gave me a lot of confidence she would have the stamina at the end. She demonstrated she has a great future and a very good chance to win the Kentucky Oaks. She's versatile and knows how to settle nicely, which says a lot about her potential going longer."
Motion agreed with Saez's assessment of Affirmative Lady's handling nine furlongs in the Kentucky Oaks: "I think she really wants to go further. I think she'll really appreciate a mile and an eighth, to be honest."
Affirmative Lady, a member of the penultimate crop of Arrogate, the sire of last year's Kentucky Oaks (G1) heroine Secret Oath, was bred in Kentucky by Alastar Thoroughbred. She is the second foal out of the stakes-winning Stephen Got Even mare Stiffed, whose yearling Nyquist filly sold for $170,000 at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale to Red Wings Enterprises. Stiffed delivered a filly by Connect in March.
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