HOT SPRINGS -- Ten potential winners are set to start in today's $150,000 Pippin Stakes for fillies and mares 4 years old and up at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.
Post time for the Pippin, the ninth of 10 races on Oaklawn's card, is scheduled for 4:22 p.m.
"It's a solid group," said Robertino Diodoro, trainer of Lovely Ride, the 3-1 morning-line second-choice in the Pippin. "It's definitely a solid group of mares."
Le Da Vida, a Chilean-bred 6-year-old daughter of Gemologist trained by Ignacio Correas is the 2-1 morning-line favorite. Le Da Vida (7-3-0 with $204,584 in earnings over 16 career starts) made her first of three North American starts with a win in a 1-mile race against optional claimers at Churchill Downs on Sept. 15. After she won again, in a field of optional claimers at Keeneland Race Course on Oct. 19, she finished fourth on a sloppy track in Oaklawn's 1-mile Mistletoe Stakes on Dec. 10.
Lovely Ride, a 5-year-old daughter of Candy Ride, rebounded for Diodoro at Oaklawn after an extended break following a struggle last summer. Diodoro said he told her owners she might never return to form, But Lovely Ride won the Mistletoe at 9-2 on the second afternoon of Oaklawn's current meet.
"A lot of that was giving her a little bit of time off and laying off her training to let her get back to herself," Diodoro said. "I think she just got a little sour on us. A couple of things in the morning, we changed up a little bit, and I think it's really helped her."
In Lovely Ride's last start before the Mistletoe, she finished last of 12, 17 lengths behind the winner, in the Grade III Trillium Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto on Aug. 13.
She has continued a string of uninterrupted and fast Oaklawn works in efforts that have served to boost Diodoro's confidence, including a half-mile bullet run of 47.00 on New Year's Eve.
"Sometimes you see a fast time and you think, 'Oh, wow, the horse worked great,' '' Diodoro said. "But when you see it in person, the guy was working the horse the whole way, and sometimes you see a fast time like hers, the guy had a nice hold on her. She did it very easy. It was a very nice work."
After a training win on Friday's Oaklawn card, Diodoro has 2,998 for his career. He said before the season he hoped Oaklawn would host his 3,000th win. In all, 36 North American trainers have won 3,000 or more. Eight horses are entered from Diodoro's stable today, including six at Oaklawn.
Diodoro is Oaklawn's leading trainer this season with 14 wins.
The ever-reliable Coach, a 5-year-old daughter of Commissioner trained by Brad Cox, is listed at 7-2. Jockey Joe Talamo rode Coach (14 5-3-2, $464,315) to second, 3 1/2 lengths back in the Mistletoe.
"Even when she doesn't win, she's always right there," Talamo said. "She always puts you in a good spot."
Coach won last season's Pippin and is the 7-2 third-choice today.
"She makes your job easy, putting you in a good spot early on," Talamo said. "For the most part, she tries to stay out of trouble. That definitely helps out quite a bit."
John Ortiz trains Pippin entrants Ice Orchid and Graysonsmacho Girl, with 12-1 and 15-1 program odds, respectively. John Ed Anthony's Ice Orchid was second to Secret Oath in Oaklawn's Grade III Honeybee Stakes last February and finished second in the Grade III Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs in her last start on Nov. 19.
Graysonsmacho Gal (23 4-6-1, $223,824) has shown meaningful improvement through her past two starts.
"They both have heart," Ortiz said. "They're just horses that give it their everything. Their odds are a little disappointing, but it's like my dad says. I'll call him and I'll say, 'Dad, I don't know about this race,' and my dad says, 'Johnny, don't worry. Horses don't know numbers.' ''