Wonderment wires Bourbonette Oaks to debut on KY Oaks leaderboard

Apr 02, 2016 Jennifer Caldwell/Brisnet.com

Magdalena Racing and Chris Sterbenz’s Wonderment posted a gate-to-wire victory on Saturday in the $100,000 Bourbonette Oaks (G3) at Turfway Park with jockey Cornelio Velasquez in the irons.

The gray daughter of Cosmonaut easily drew off in the stretch of the one-mile Polytrack contest to stop the clock in 1:39.04. In the process, Wonderment earned 50 points toward a starting berth in the May 6 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Turfway Park.

The Bourbonette Oaks was the final race in the Road to the Kentucky Oaks series of points races to award points on a 50-20-10-5. The remaining races, with the exception of the Beaumont (G3) at Keeneland (10-4-2-1), are all worth 100-40-20-10.

Wonderment made her debut on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with those 50 points. Inconclusive also shows up for the first time on the leaderboard with 20 points after finishing 3 3/4 lengths behind Wonderment on the Bourbonette Oaks wire. Marquee Miss took home 10 and now boasts 20 total points toward the Kentucky Oaks after being nosed out for second. Miss Meteor was awarded 5 points for finishing fourth on Saturday.

Wonderment is now 4-3-0-1, $181,160 in her career after taking her initial two starts last July at Belmont Park, including the Lynbrook S. on July 19. The Kenny McPeek pupil wouldn’t be seen again until showing up to finish third last out in the February 20 Franklin Square S. over Aqueduct’s inner dirt.

Wonderment is the first registered stakes winner out of the Three Wonders mare A Wonder She Is, and comes from the same female family as multiple Grade 1-scoring millionaire Videogenic as well as Grade 1 hero Valid Video.

BOURBONETTE OAKS QUOTES

Cornelio Velasquez, jockey Wonderment, winner: “My filly was coming off a layoff in New York and she needed her race last time. She wanted to go to the lead and we had a lot of horse coming down the top of the stretch. She likes the distance and the synthetic track and she wanted to go easy on the lead.”

Alan Shell, assistant trainer Wonderment, winner: “That last race (the Franklin Square at Aqueduct on February 20) she was really sharp, and her gallops have been getting stronger and stronger, and her breezes have been so sharp, we were confident that she would like the route of ground.

“We work a lot of horses in company, young horses like her, but we can’t really work her in company. We probably spend more time in the morning trying to slow her down because we don’t want her to do too much. She used that speed today.”

Florent Geroux, jockey Inconclusive, second: “I was too far off the pace, for some reason I couldn’t keep up, but she finished really good. I wasn’t going to catch the winner, but the farther the distance, the better for her.”