Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Wet Paint rallied in the stretch to defeat Sacred Wish in the final strides in the $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga on Saturday, July 22.
Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Flavien Prat, Wet Paint settled at the back of the compact field of five early in the nine-furlong test. Prat tipped his mount to the outside of a retreating Southlawn around the turn and reeled in Sacred Wish late to score a neck victory in a final time of 1:50.68.
Fourth as the favorite in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) in May, Wet Paint enjoyed a productive season at Oaklawn Park, winning both the Honeybee S. (G3) in February, the Fantasy S. (G3) in April, as well as the Martha Washington S. to begin her sophomore season. Between the Kentucky Oaks and the CCA Oaks, Wet Paint was runner-up in the Monomoy Girl S. at Ellis Park in June.
“(She is) a super consistent filly, always comes running,” said Brad Cox. “Her run in the Oaks was good and her last race at Ellis was probably better than it looked on paper, running against a huge bias with no pace. I’m glad she stepped up and finally got that Grade 1—that was big for her.”
By Blame, Wet Paint is produced from the graded stakes-placed Street Cry mare Sky Painter. The CCA Oaks victory improved her record to 9-5-2-0 and she is now an earner of $1,057,175. Cox indicated that Wet Paint will likely aim for the $600,000 Alabama S. (G1) on Aug. 19 at Saratoga.
“That’s the logical spot moving forward,” said Cox, who also the won the 2018 CCA Oaks with Kentucky-bred Monomoy Girl. “We’ll talk it over with the Godolphin team, but I think a mile and a quarter is definitely something she’s going to be able to handle based off her running style and showing today that she likes Saratoga. It was huge to get a G1 win with her.”