Rockpaperscissors steps up in G1 CCA Oaks
At 0h03, on July 23, 2021 • By SARATOGA
Trainer Rodolphe Brisset said he was pleasantly surprised to see Rockpaperscissors shake off eight months of rust with ease in her last out allowance score against older fillies, and is hoping that the two-time winner can find a little extra in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga Race Course.
Last year, Paris Lights and Crystal Ball led a WinStar Stablemates Racing exacta in the CCA Oaks. Rockpaperscissors will try to make WinStar Stablemates Racing the first owner to notch back to back CCA Oaks victories since Godolphin with It’s Tricky [2011] and Questing [2012].
Rockpaperscissors arrives off a trio of sharp works over the Keeneland main track, including a half-mile bullet two works back over muddy going. But her toughest test yet awaits on Saturday as she takes on Malathaat, the undefeated winner of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.
“She has two very fast works and showed us that she is getting fitter and fitter, but obviously, we know it’s a tough task,” Brisset said. “She’s by Distorted Humor, who is 27-years-old so he’s on the end of his stud career and then the mare [Rockcide] is a half to [2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner] Funny Cide. There’s nothing wrong with trying to run one-two-three in a Grade 1.”
Brisset will send out Donato Lanni and John F. Youngblood’s Demodog in Friday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Lake George, a one-mile turf tilt for sophomore fillies.
The chestnut daughter of American Pharoah is unbeaten in two starts, both of which took place against older fillies and mares over the Matt Winn Turf Course at Churchill Downs this spring.
After two starts against older fillies and mares, which bother garnered an 82 Beyer Speed Figure, Demodog faces straight 3-year-old fillies in the Lake George.
