Sweet Catomine wins Santa Anita Oaks

ARCADIA, Calif. - Bring on the boys for Sweet Catomine.

The 3-year-old filly powered past the leaders around the stretch turn and went on to a three-length victory in Sunday's $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks.

Sweet Catomine's win ensured that her next date will be against male horses in the Santa Anita Derby on April 9. Depending on how she fares, she could run in the Kentucky Derby on May 7.

"This is a truly champion filly," winning trainer Julio Canani said. "The best filly that ever lived. She's going to prove it this year."

Sweet Catomine, last year's champion 2-year-old filly, won her fifth straight. She covered 1 1-16 miles in 1:44.44 on a foggy, drizzly afternoon at Santa Anita.

The winner paid $2.40, $2.10 and $2.10 at 1-5 odds. She accounted for $209,104 of the $316,544 wagered in the win pool.

Memorette returned $3 and $2.10, while She Sings was another five lengths back in third and paid $2.10.

Sweet Catomine became the second filly to win both the Oaks and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The first was Eliza, who won the BC Juvenile Fillies in 1992 and the '93 Oaks.

Sweet Catomine would be the 26th filly to try the Santa Anita Derby, the West's major prep for the Kentucky Derby. Three fillies have won the race.

"If she runs the right race in the Santa Anita Derby, then we'll run her in the Kentucky Derby," said Martin Wygod, who owns Sweet Catomine with his wife Pam.

In 1988, Winning Colors followed the same path: winning the Oaks, then the Santa Anita and Kentucky derbys - only the fourth filly to win America's most famous race.

"It's one race at a time," Wygod said. "The Santa Anita Derby is what we have next. As far as the Kentucky Derby, we won't take that risk with her unless we feel she's the one to beat. Too high a percentage of horses that you see run in the (Kentucky) Derby, you never see them again."

Last year, Canani and the Wygods won the Oaks with Silent Sighs.

Sweet Catomine ran next-to-last, tugging hard on jockey Corey Nakatani along the backstretch. She made a huge move around the stretch turn, picking off the leaders on her way to the lead at the quarter-pole.

"She was going so easy," Nakatani said. "She's definitely proven to me that she's the best filly I've ever ridden and I've ridden some good ones."

Nakatani also won the Oaks on three other heavily favored fillies in 1991, '95 and '97.

Tyler Baze, who rode Cream Donut Keith, claimed foul against Sweet Catomine for interference on the stretch turn, but it was disallowed by the stewards, who said the incident didn't affect the order of finish.

"Going around the (far) turn, he has 20 lengths the best horse and he (expletive) shuts me off," Baze said about Nakatani.

Charming Colleen was fourth; Feel the Heat fifth; Cream Donut Keith sixth; and early leader Guaranteed Victory faded to seventh. All starters carried 121 pounds.

The victory, worth $180,000, increased Sweet Catomine's career earnings to $1,044,600, with five wins in six starts. She hadn't run since winning the Santa Ysabel at Santa Anita on Jan. 16.

Jockey Alex Solis took off his remaining four mounts after being kicked by a horse in the walking ring prior to the sixth race. He sustained a bruised right thigh. Matt Garcia replaced Solis aboard Feel the Heat in the Oaks.