Fiftyshadesofhay captures Iowa Oaks

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Altoona, IA (Sports Network) - Fiftyshadesofhay, winner of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, cruised through the stretch Saturday night to win the $200,000 Iowa Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at Prairie Meadows.

Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Martin Garcia, Fiftyshadesofhay went past pacesetter So Many Ways around the final turn and went on to register a three- length victory in the 1 1/16-mile race.

Fiftyshadesofhay broke from the far outside post in the 10-horse field and pressed the pace that was being set by So Many Ways. The 13-10 favorite swung wide on the final turn to take the lead entering the stretch.

She hit the wire first with Seaneen Girl overcoming a bad start to finish second with So Many Ways in third. Rounding out the order of finish was Hitechnoweenie, Gold Medal Dancer, Glorys Last Chance, Canticle, Plenty O'Toole, Cloudy Vow and Braseana.

With Garcia aboard for the first time, Fiftyshadesofhay covered the distance in 1:44.65 on a fast track.

Fiftyshadesofhay, owned by Karl Watson, Mike Pegram and Paul Weitman, adds $120,000 to her career earnings. The filly has banked $612,490 with four wins in 10 lifetime starts.

The 3-year-old won the Black-Eyed Susan by a neck with Joel Rosario riding after having Rafael Bejarano in the saddle through the first eight starts of her career.

Fiftyshadesofhay won the Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 26 and then finished second to champion filly Beholder in the Las Virgenes. On April 6, the filly finished third to Beholder in the Santa Anita Oaks.

Fiftyshadesofhay returned $4.60, $3.00 and $2.20. Seaneen Girl paid $5.80 and $3.80, and So Many Ways paid $3.20 to show.