NEWS
Peach Brew rallies to win Arlington Oaks
Posted: Saturday, July 18, 2009 8:14 PM
PEACH BREW
FourFootedFotos.com
To view the Arlington Oaks, click here.
by Ron Parker
Robert Zoellner’s homebred Peach Brew rallied from near the back of the pack and split horses in midstretch before posting a half-length victory in the $150,000 Arlington Oaks (G3) at Arlington Park on Saturday.
Six three-year-old fillies were entered for the 1 1/8-mile contest on the main track, with C. S. Silk a clear favorite at odds of 4-to-5.
The Medaglia d’Oro filly went to the lead and maintained a 1½-length advantage for the first mile, setting solid fractions of :24.44 and :48.19 for the first half-mile while Peach Brew settled comfortably into fifth position under regular jockey Quincy Hamilton.
As the field turned for home the challengers came after C. S. Silk, who gave way to Hot Cha Cha while Perfect for You loomed menacingly, Peach Brew had hit her best stride, and Sweet and Flawless was charging from last.
Peach Brew proved best in the rush to the finish, stopping the timer in 1:50.89 on the synthetic Polytrack surface at odds of 8.40-to-1. Sweet and Flawless, the longest shot in the field at 21.70-to-1 odds, finished second, a head in front of Hot Cha Cha, while C. S. Silk tired to finish fifth.
“I have no excuse,” jockey Robby Albarado said about C. S. Silk. “She felt comfortable on the lead. She got over the track well. She won over it last year. “But when they came up to her today, she offered no fight at all. I don’t know why.”
Peach Brew’s trainer, Donnie Von Hemel, said he was concerned when C. S. Silk was clearly in the lead while setting reasonable fractions.
“The favorite is on the lead by herself, and with the way the racetrack was playing I was very concerned, but she got the job done,” he said.
Quincy Hamilton has been aboard the Peach Brew, a Milwaukee Brew filly, for all 13 of her starts. She entered the Arlington Oaks off a third place finish in the Iowa Oaks (G3) on June 26 at Prairie Meadows Racetrack.
“Words can’t describe what it’s like to ride a filly like that,” Hamilton said. “When she gets ready to go, she knows it’s time and she gives it 110% every time. She sure went into her last race well and came out of it well.”
Winner of last year’s Oklahoma Classics Lassie Stakes at Remington Park as a two-year-old, the Oklahoma-bred Preach Brew posted posting her third victory from 13 starts and boosted her career earnings to $212,006.
Peach Brew is out of the winning Hickory Ridge mare Georgia Ok.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Ron Parker is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
