OLLIE'S CANDY

OLLIE'S CANDY PICKS
UP FIRST GRADE 1

In a weekend of impressive
stretch duels, Paul and Karen
Eggert's filly Ollie's Candy turned
in her own memorable performance
July 28 and defeated grade
1 winner Secret Spice by a head in
the $300,351 Clement L. Hirsch
Stakes (G1) at Del Mar.
Guided by Kent Desormeaux,
Ollie's Candy broke well from post
3 and made an early move for the
lead. Running just off the rail, the
filly was sent to the front, where she
dueled early with Queen Bee to You.

Away well, Secret Spice and
Flavien Prat settled well back
in third, more than four lengths
behind the leaders. Ollie's Candy
set fractions of :23.05, :46.68,
and 1:11.32 through six furlongs,
widening her margin to three
lengths as Secret Spice began her
three-wide advance headed into
the second turn. Spring in the
Wind, the sole Ontario-bred in
the field of six, tried to keep pace
with the frontrunners in fourth
but began to drop back as the pack
picked up momentum just before
the stretch run.

Secret Spice hammered down
the stretch to draw on even terms
with Ollie's Candy and poked a
head in front as the mile went in
1:37.65. With only the final yards
to run, Ollie's Candy dug in with
all she had and got up on the bob
to prevail over Secret Spice at the
wire. The final time was 1:44.66 on
a fast track.
"I was just letting her do her
thing; reins were dangling," said
Desormeaux. "At the quarter pole, I
picked her up and she did the rest.
She came again (in the lane). That
other mare got in front of us, but
my mare is a fighter. She wants to
win. (Trainer) John (Sadler) is on
a roll. He just let me come along
today."
“She ran a huge race," said Prat
of the runner-up. "She just got beat
today.”



Santa Maria Stakes (G2) winner La Force, who
saved ground at the back of the field before chasing
down rivals in deep stretch, got up to take third.
Paradise Woods, Spring in the Wind, and Queen Bee to
You completed the order of finish.
A Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" race, the
Clement Hirsch earned Ollie's Candy an automatic
berth in the $2 million Longines Breeders'
Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park.
It was the fifth Clement Hirsch victory
for Sadler, who won in 2006 with Healthy
Addiction, again in 2014 with Iotapa, and in
back-to-back renewals with champion Stellar
Wind in 2016-17.





"(Ollie's Candy) is a really nice filly who
ran in some big races here last year for
(trainer) Bill Morey Jr. She came my way
(two starts ago) in really good shape, and I've
just kind of carried on for what he did last
year," said Sadler.
Ollie's Candy broke her maiden on debut
at 3 for Morey and earned her first graded win
two starts later in the Summertime Oaks (G2)
at Santa Anita. Switched to turf for her next
start in the San Clemente Stakes (G2T), the filly
finished second, a neck behind War Heroine.
She closed her sophomore season with another
runner-up performance on the grass when
Fatale Bere edged her by a neck in the Del Mar
Oaks Presented by The Jockey Club (G1T).
Ollie's Candy finished off the board in her
first start of 2019—the May 27 Gamely Stakes
(G1T) at Santa Anita. She bounced back one
start later to finish second in the June 22
Wilshire Stakes (G3T) before the decision
was made to try the filly back on the dirt.
"She ran a good race her last start at Santa
Anita—came down here and had a bullet
work over the track, which showed me she
had an affinity for the dirt. A lot of Candy
Rides can run on any surface. You don't
give Kent any instructions. You just don't. So I was
surprised to see her in front, but it worked out."
Bred in Kentucky by her owners, Ollie's Candy is the
third foal produced by the Stroll mare Afternoon Stroll,
winner of Keeneland's Appalachian Stakes (G3T). The
filly is a half sister to stakes-placed Celestial Sighting.
Consigned by Denali Stud to the 2016 Keeneland
September Yearling Sale, Ollie's Candy failed to sell on
a final bid of $45,000 and was retained by the Eggerts.
She has four wins and three second-place finishes in
eight starts for earnings of $452,151.