Blind Luck has a ways to go before matching the accomplishments of racing's finest fillies.
Her stretch run in the Fantasy Stakes was a good start.
Blind Luck overtook Tidal Pool with an impressive final surge Friday at Oaklawn Park, winning by 2 1/2 lengths in the same race that featured Rachel Alexandra and Eight Belles the last two years. Those fillies later ran in Triple Crown races, but that's not on the agenda for Blind Luck just yet. She'll be pointed to the Kentucky Oaks instead of the Kentucky Derby.
``The Oaks has been our target,'' trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. ``If I can get that, then I'll worry about everything else later on.''
Blind Luck, with Rafael Bejarano aboard, finished the $300,000 Fantasy in 1:42.56 and paid $3 and $2.20. She won for the sixth time in nine career starts and the first time on a non-synthetic surface since June.
Despite saving ground on the rail, jockey Calvin Borel and Tidal Pool weren't able to hold on in the 1 1-16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.
``We had no problems and my filly really ran well,'' Borel said. ``You will hear more from her. This filly's time will come and she is going to win some big races.''
The 1-2 favorite, Blind Luck trailed the other three horses in the field heading into the final turn. Running to the outside of the others, she moved into second place and finally passed Tidal Pool.
``The first part was a little slower than I thought it would be, but we really picked things up and it finished a very fast race,'' Bejarano said. ``I was right where I wanted to be and once we got in the lane, the way my filly was closing, I really felt confident.''
Tidal Pool (3-1) made a gallant effort but was second best for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. No Such Word (9-2) was third, 9 lengths behind the winner.
``This was a small field, but a tough one,'' said Terry Thompson, No Such Word's jockey. ``Each quarter seemed to get faster. My filly gave her best, but the top pair got away from us.''
The small field has become the norm for this race recently. Rachel Alexandra won easily in a five-horse group last year, and only three competitors bothered to oppose Eight Belles when she won it in 2008.
Rachel Alexandra went on to win the Preakness en route to Horse of the Year honors, and Eight Belles was second in the Kentucky Derby in 2008, although she was euthanized following the race in a heartbreaking scene after breaking down.
Some of racing's best horses have prepared for the Triple Crown races at Oaklawn, including Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex and Curlin. Those horses all won the Arkansas Derby, which is considered the season's highlight and this track's biggest Kentucky Derby prep.
But Rachel Alexandra and Eight Belles have given the Fantasy some prestige, and you can never count out the fillies in the Triple Crown races. In addition to Rachel Alexandra's triumph last year, Rags to Riches won the 2007 Belmont.
Hollendorfer, however, will stay focused on the Kentucky Oaks. His horse will definitely be considered a favorite after this performance, her third win in four races. She has finished in the top three in every race of her career.
``I'm happy that she showed that turn of foot on the dirt,'' Hollendorfer said.
Friday was the first day of Oaklawn's season-ending Racing Festival of the South, which concludes April 10 with the Arkansas Derby. It also includes the Apple Blossom on April 9. That race was supposed to feature a tantalizing matchup between Rachel Alexandra and unbeaten Zenyatta, but only the latter is now expected to run.
