My Option charges to victory at Arlington
My Option, coming off a tough defeat to Bold Kitten in the Purple Violet Stakes on June 1, turned the tables on that rival and four others when she gamely prevailed by a neck over Frivolous in the Grade III Arlington Oaks on Saturday.
A 3-year-old daughter of Belong to Me, My Option became the second straight Illinois-registered filly to capture the Oaks. Eduardo Perez was aboard the Chris Block trainee.
The race started out with Sky Girl and Gold Edge being virtually inseparable through the first three-quarters of a mile, while the eventual winner, according to plan, sat back early.
As the pacesetters began to unravel, My Option picked up the bit to gain the lead approaching the eighth pole and held off the fast-closing Frivolous for the victory.
“I knew I had a lot of horse. I just tapped her on the shoulders and she took off pretty good,” Perez said.
The Arlington Oaks was the first open and graded stakes win for My Option, the Illinois Champion 2-Year-old filly of 2012, and her fourth win in six trips to the post overall. The $89,100 winner's share of the $150,000 purse pushed the homebred filly's career earnings to $261,263.
“She is very competitive and very classy. I was concerned that (the Purple Violet) took a lot out of her, so I backed off on her training,” Block said. “Her works were slow early, so I kept her slow because she can get real aggressive.
“I knew she was going to have to drop the bridle and settle. She did for the most part except a little around the first turn, but she settled up the backside. I liked the way she was moving up the backside and on the far turn.”
The 5-2 second choice in the wagering, My Option paid $7, $4.20 and $2.80.
Horse euthanized:
New Jersey state police say a horse scheduled to race at the Meadowlands was euthanized after a horse trailer crashed and overturned on a northern New Jersey highway. A veterinarian euthanized Hay Beautiful shortly after the crash occurred around 2:50 p.m. on Route 80 East in Parsippany, N.J.