Speech springs upset in Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, qualifies for Kentucky Oaks
Trainer Mike McCarthy made a bold decision on Friday, pulling his 3-year-old filly Speech out of the Beaumont Stakes and opting instead to compete in Saturday’s $400,000, Grade 1 Ashland Stakes. Turns out, McCarthy’s instincts were sound.
Ridden by Javier Castellano, Speech stalked the pacesetter through the final turn and took command in the stretch, cruising to a 3-length victory in the Ashland and locking up a spot in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Sept. 5, should her connections choose that path. It was the first graded stakes victory for Speech, who earned 100 qualifying points toward the Oaks.
“They made the right decision for the horse, and we had the better horse for today,” Castellano said of the decision to pull Speech from the Beaumont and enter her in the Ashland. “Everything fell in the right direction for the filly to win the race.”
Speech settled in behind heavy favorite Venetian Harbor and finally drew even at the quarter pole. Speech quickly opened a gap and won going away, paying $10 for the win. Venetian Harbor held second and was followed by Envoutante and Bonny South.
Owner Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners certainly sounded bullish on the likelihood of Speech testing herself against the best fillies in the world in the Kentucky Oaks, especially after Castellano steered her to a race- and track-record time of 1:41.36 in the Ashland.
“She’s going to go home to Mike McCarthy at Del Mar in the next couple of days, hopefully she comes out of it well and we’ll map out a plan from there once we see how she’s doing,” Wellman said. “(The Kentucky Oaks) is a definite possibility, without question. This filly has run around two turns four times now. Today ... she broke the track record for a-mile-and-a-sixteenth at Keeneland, which is some pretty heavy stuff. So, I think she answered all the questions.
“It’s really going to boil down to how she’s doing. We’ve got seven, eight weeks until the Kentucky Oaks ... It’ll really hinge on how (McCarthy) thinks she’s doing. He’s done an impeccable job of developing her from day one.”
Speech now ranks second on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 160 qualifying points. Swiss Skydiver, who was finished second in Saturday’s Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, tops the leaderboard with 310 points.
This story was originally published July 11, 2020 at 5:51 PM.
