With 13 fillies in the field, William Werner’s Kalispera (Ire) was made the 4-1 tepid morning line favorite in a wide-open edition of the Listed $250,000 Woodford Reserve Virginia Oaks, one of six turf stakes with $1.3 million in purses on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Colonial Downs. 

Covering 1 1/8 miles over the Secretariat Turf Course, the sister race to the local derby is scheduled as race 9 of the 12 on the New Kent County Virginia Derby Day program which gets underway at 1 p.m. ET.

Kalispera may be the chalk, but there are plenty of other ways to go. The Oaks also includes the place and show horses from Delaware Park’s Christiana Stakes in Belle of Rights and Style Points; synthetic stakes winner She’s Fire; and Grade 2-placed Call Another Play, among others.

As a 2-year-old overseas, Kalispera earned multiple group placings, including running third to Opera Singer, one of Ballydoyle’s top stars. Transferred to Brian Lynch’s barn ahead of her sophomore campaign, the Irish-bred has racked up only one win, but continues to add to her classy resume, exiting a third-place finish in the Pucker Up (G3). Edgar Morales gets the call and will guide her from post 11.

No filly in the field is sharper than Barry Schwartz’s Awesome Czech. Stringing together two wins for conditioner Horacio De Paz, last out at Saratoga the Mendelssohn filly won the Suzie O’Cain by 2¾ lengths. She’ll see the runner-up finisher from that affair again on Saturday, as Thomas Brockley and Daryn Brockley’s 2023 Selima winner Brocknardini entered the local oaks for trainer George Weaver.

Kalispera got the morning line vote of confidence, but a case for favoritism could be made for half the field, which sees six tabbed between 4-1 and 8-1. With a win in the Weber City Miss and a third in the Black Eyed Susan (G2) on her resume, if Larry Johnson’s Call Another Play can transfer her dirt form to the turf, she appears as dangerous as any. The Audible filly trained by Mike Trombetta debuted on the turf and exits a second-place finish in the off-the-turf Searching.

Call Another Play is from the same female family as Grade 2 winner Future Is Now and Belmont/Haskell runner-up Mindframe.

Cheyenne Stable’s Florida Oaks (G2) second-place finisher Style Points, who finished third last out in the Christina for Christophe Clement, attracts the services of Manny Franco. Never out of the top two in four starts for Shug McGaughey, Emory Hamilton’s Belle of Rights should attract plenty of support at the windows; as will the last-out maiden winner at Saratoga, John Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock Services’ Deep Satin for Cherie DeVaux; and Godolphin’s Pendulum for Brendan Walsh.

The complete field for the $250,000 Virginia Oaks from the rail out with jockey, trainer and morning line is as follows: Style Points (Franco, Clement, 8-1); Aspen Dawn (Antonio Gallardo, Mark Casse, 12-1); Pendulum (Jorge Ruiz, Walsh, 10-1); Oncourtcommentator (Sheldon Russell, Brittany Russell, 6-1); Distorted d’Oro (Ben Curtis, Mike Stidham, 15-1); Awesome Czech (Jevian Toledo, De Paz, 10-1); Deep Satin (Mychel Sanchez, DeVaux, 5-1); Brocknardini (Joe Rocco Jr., Weaver, 30-1); She’s Fire (Israel Rodriguez, Kevin Rice, 20-1); Smooth Waves (James Graham, Greg Foley, 30-1); Kalispera (IRE) (Morales, Lynch, 4-1); Call Another Play (Paco Lopez, Trombetta, 8-1); Belle of Rights (Forest Boyce, McGaughey, 8-1).

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