Peter Fuller's homebred 3-year-old filly Trip for A.J. posted her sixth victory of the year after winning the $75,000 Calder Oaks at the Festival of the Sun at Calder Casino & Race Course on Saturday. Jockey Eibar Coa was the winning rider for trainer Milton Wolfson.
The Florida-bred daughter of Trippi led the entire way of the 1 1/8 miles turf race, covering the distance in 1:51.12. She solidly defeated 11 other 3-year-old fillies, with Gator Brew finishing 5 ¾ lengths behind in second place. Musical Romance was third.
Winning trainer's quotes:
Milton Wolfson - "I am thrilled with this performance. She left us puzzled after the last start-I couldn't believe she could run that badly (fourth in the Judy's Red Shoes on Sept. 25). I had her double-entered today (Calder Oaks and the Cinnamon Girl overnight stakes), but it was a no-brainer to run in the Calder Oaks after she drew the 11 post in the other race at a mile and one-sixteenth on the dirt. This was really the race we wanted, even though the mile and an eighth was a question.
"Everything worked out perfectly for her. She had it all her own way and Coa did a beautiful job of slowing down the pace and asking her to turn it on in the stretch."
Winning jockey's quotes:
Eibar Coa - "I knew that I had the best filly in the race, so when they let me put her on the lead going so slowly, I was sure she would win. She was very relaxed that way and when I asked her to run in the stretch, she just exploded. I wanted to find out exactly what she could do and she let me know. I was impressed."
