Rail-Drawn Paradise Stretches Out in Gazelle

The $200,000 Gazelle Stakes (G3) plays an interesting role on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks as one of only two domestic prep races—and the only one during a filly's 3-year-old season—to be contested at the same 1 1/8 mile distance as the Churchill Downs filly feature. That distinction will provide a solid test for the nine competitors entered April 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack, as seven of them exit one-turn races, with Repole Stables' Baffle's third-place finish in the 1 1/16-mile Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs March 14 being the only one of those seven beyond a mile. NK Racing and LNJ Foxwoods' Paradise is one of those fillies testing two turns for the first time. Second on debut over 6 furlongs at Churchill Downs last fall, the daughter of Gun Runner is 2-for-2 over a one-turn mile this year. The most recent victory came stalking just off the pace before making a three-wide move and drawing off for a 3 3/4-length win in Aqueduct's Busher Stakes Feb. 28. Trainer Brad Cox said he "loved" the Busher performance and is unconcerned about drawing post 1 in the Gazelle due her ability to sit, pounce, and stay on that she showed that day. She's been working well at Belmont Park since, and Cox is confident she will handle the added furlong. "I like it for her. She's been training well all winter," Cox said. "The one hole, I'm okay with it. I think a good break and a good forward position, hopefully she can stay on. Gun Runner is a world-class sire, but obviously does his best work around two turns, and I don't see why she can't handle the distance." Well traveled already, Saturday will mark Paradise's first start at a track over which she's previously raced, and with a jockey who's already ridden her in a race, that being her Busher-winning jockey Manny Franco. Busher runner-up Nycon, owned by Icon Racing Stable, also returns for the Gazelle in her first start beyond a mile. Trainer Whit Beckman retains Jaime Torres in the saddle, who has ridden her in all four previous starts. The two runners who exit two-turn races appear to be intriguing prospects. Red White and Blue Racing's Pashmina ships in for trainer Rob Atras off a third-place finish to grade 1 winner Bottle of Rouge in the 1-mile Sunland Park Oaks Feb. 15. Her lone start at 1 1/16 miles came against maiden company at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots last fall. She drew off by 10 3/4 lengths that day for her only win in five starts, suggesting added distance could be her benefit. Meanwhile, Douglas Scharbauer and Three Chimneys' Always a Runner, another Gun Runner filly, debuted Feb. 6 over two turns when racing 1 mile and 40 yards at Tampa Bay Downs, winning by 6 1/2 lengths for trainer Chad Brown. Also in the field are Two Bits, winner of the 7-furlong Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct Feb. 6; Hot Gossip, who defeated allowance foes by 9 3/4 lengths in her first start after being claimed by trainer Linda Rice for $75,000; New York-bred stakes winner Victory Hall; and the maiden Slow Kara. Since the Gazelle was moved from late summer to April in 2013, the Gazelle has produced one Kentucky Oaks winner: 2013 upsetter Princess of Sylmar. She ran second behind Close Hatches in the initial year of the Gazelle's placement as a spring Oaks prep. The top five finishers on Saturday will earn qualifying points on a 100-50-25-15-10 to the May 1 Oaks.