Tracy Farmer’s homebred La Cara was never headed as she posted a 1 ¼-length victory in the $750,000 Ashland S. (G1) for 3-year-old fillies at Keeneland on Monday, April 7. Her front-running score secured a spot in the starting gate for the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) to be run May 2 at Churchill Downs.
Ridden by Dylan Davis and trained by Mark Casse, La Cara earned 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks. The Ashland was the final qualifying race for the Oaks.
“When she brings her ‘A’ game, she’s tough,” said Casse. “Dylan said when he was coming down the backside, he thought, ‘Oh, I have the filly I had in Tampa that day (when she won the Suncoast Stakes). He said he could tell the difference. We knew (when she was second in the Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream), it was just a prep. We brought her back a little quick so I could have more time for this race. And it worked out.”
La Cara Kentucky Oaks Bound
On preparing his charge for the Oaks, Casse added, “It sets up perfect. She’s now at three starts off the layoff, so she should be perfect. She loves Churchill, and we’ll be OK to come back a little quicker. So, I’m good.”
La Cara set all the pace in the Ashland. She built a clear margin while in hand and responded under a drive into the final furlong. She held sway to defeat Take Charge Milady by 1 ¼ lengths in the end. La Cara, who led by as many as 3 1/2 lengths, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.10.
“That was the plan,” said Davis of the Ashland trip. “Mark and I talked about it: to break sharply. We saw a lot of speed in this race, so we wanted to just get the best position possible. And that’s what she did. She established dominance early, and then she just took control all the way through the wire. She was looking around a little bit, so I just had to stay with her and keep her to task to the wire. She ran very well.”
La Cara is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Street Sense out of the Bernardini mare Cara Caterina. Now a three-time stakes winner, La Cara has earnings of $866,083.