A Bit o’Irish Sass continues improvement in New York Oaks

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A Bit o’Irish Sass rolls to 4 1/2-length win in Monday’s $75,000 New York Oaks at Finger Lakes. SV Photography.

By Tom Law

A Bit o’Irish Sass added another stakes win to the ledger of the late Laoban Monday with an emphatic victory over three opponents in the $75,000 New York Oaks at Finger Lakes.

Coming off a maiden victory 25 days ago on a sloppy track at Belmont Park, the gray filly battled for the lead early and put away A Life That’s Good on the way to a 4 ½-length victory over 8-5 favorite U Guys Are No Fun. Ridden by Reylu Gutierrez, A Bit o’Irish Sass won the 1 1/16-mile New York Oaks in 1:47.77.

“She’s really improving,” said Rick Schosberg, who trains and co-owns the filly with Clear Stars Stable and Mitre Box Stable. “We knew when she stretched out she’d run to her pedigree. She’s done everything right. She’s mentally and physically maturing at the right rate.

“She has really, stepped it up. When she saw the racetrack, when we walked up to the track, she got into that cocky dance that horses do when they get pretty confident about their surroundings.”

The fans on hand and others watching at home must have noticed, too, as A Bit o’Irish Sass opened up at 3-5. She eventually drifted up to 5-2 behind U Guys Are No Fun and just below Destinationwnrscir and A Life That’s Good.

“She did everything right and Reylu rode her perfectly,” Schosberg said. “They challenged her again just like she was challenged at Belmont. Once she relaxed and switched over her lead she extended.”

Schosberg entered A Bit o’Irish Sass main track only in the last race Saturday but when the rains didn’t arrive until the evening – and after learning there might be some scratches in the New York Oaks – he readied the filly for the approximately 200-mile trip from Saratoga to Farmington.

A Bit o’Irish Sass earned $45,000 for her connections with the victory, boosting her bankroll to $113,610 and improving to 2-0-3 in six starts.

Bred by Sequel Stallions NY and Harry Landry and foaled at Hidden Lake at Questroyal Farm in Stillwater, A Bit o’Irish Sass is out of the multiple stakes-placed Cactus Ridge mare Irish Ridge. She’s the fifth foal out of Irish Ridge, who is also the dam of the stakes-placed winners Irish Heroine and Irish Danzing.

“We got to Timonium every year and we bought four babies there this year. We like them, too,” Schosberg said. “This filly has really reached our expectations and beyond. The Laobans tend to want to run a little longer, they have this big relaxed long stride. It’s a real shame he died so young.”

 

Endnotes:
  1. [Image]: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/A-Bit-oIrish-Sass-NYOaks.jpg

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/07/26/a-bit-oirish-sass-rolls-in-new-york-oaks/