Bottle of Rouge, trained by Bob Baffert and owned by his wife, Jill, crushed the competition in the $250,000 Virginia Oaks March 14 at Colonial Downs.
Under jockey Flavien Prat, the grade 1-winning daughter of Vino Rosso settled third off the pace that was set by Dazzling Dame, with fractions that went in :22.61, :45.64, and 1:09.74. She continued to travel just off the pace down the backstretch and around the far turn. On the turn for home, she came off the rail and started to run down the leader, taking command through a mile in 1:34.64. She continued to open up on her rivals in the stretch and was under the wire by 4 1/4 widening lengths in a final time of 1:41.41.
"I wasn't sure how the race would set up because there was a lot of speed, but we were able to settle her," said Jimmy Barnes, Bob Baffert's assistant. "She rated well, and Flavien was patient and found a hole to get through. She did the rest. One of the question marks was how she would handle the progression—stretching out in distance and facing classier fillies—but she handled it well."
Dazzling Dame was second, and Baffle was 8 1/4 lengths off the winner in third. Bottle of Rouge went off the post-time favorite, and paid $3.60 for a $2 wager. The Virginia Oaks is a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks and awarded Kentucky Oaks (G1) qualifying points of 37.5, 18.75, 11.25, 7.5, and 3.75 to the five finishers in the race, reduced totals because of just five starters in the race following the scratch of Somemunny to Love. After earning 20 points with an earlier win in the Sunland Park Oaks, Bottle of Rouge now has 57.5 points to be third on the leaderboard.
Video: Virginia Oaks Presented by New Kent County (BT)
Chasten scores in first division of Sandy Bottom stakes
Chasten, the 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief , prevailed in the first of the split Sandy Bottom Stakes races. Trained by Brad Cox, she broke under jockey Cristian Torres and settled behind the leaders Brown Sugar and Her Laugh, who set fractions of :23.29, :45.53, 1:08.92, and 1:20.80. Chasten continued to race third down the backstretch, and began to move up three wide on the far turn. Into the stretch, she came up to Her Laugh, who had put away Brown Sugar, and wore her down to win it by a half-length under the wire. A half sister to champion Idiomatic, the Juddmonte homebred ran the 1 mile on the dirt in a final time of 1:33.40 to set a new track record. She paid $9 for the win.
Video: Fasig-Tipton Sandy Bottom S. (BT)
Eunomia takes second division of sandy bottom
Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. for St. Elias Stable, WSS Racing, Turf Express, and Stefania Farms, Eunomia put away her rivals to win the second Sandy Bottom Stakes. The 4-year-old daughter of Tiz the Law raced second off the pacesetter Queen Azteca, who posted fractions of :23.66, :46.21, and 1:09.54. Under Prat, Eunomia made a bid for the lead approaching the three-sixteenths pole and took command into the stretch. She pulled away from her competition to get the victory by 2 3/4 lengths as the post-time favorite. Eunomia paid $3.60 to win while covering the mile in 1:34.21.
