Summertime Oaks Odds: Window Shopping Has Shown Some Real Talent

Summertime Oaks Odds and Post Positions

Check out our predictions and odds for the Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita!

*Odds provided by author Brian Zipse.

Summertime Oaks Predictions and Best Bets

Here are my plays ($50 in total)

• $5 Exacta Box - Window Shopping, The Alys Look and Anywho = $30 
• $5 Exacta Box - Window Shopping and The Alys Look = $10 
• $5 Exacta Box - Window Shopping and Anywho = $10
• If you're playing only to win, go with my top pick Window Shopping (5/1).

Running the first time for a brand new barn, The Alys Looks headlines a field of seven sophomore fillies set for Saturday’s Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita.

Fresh off a solid third-place finish in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, the daughter of Connect has been transferred recently from the barn of Brad Cox to the shedrow of Christopher Davis.  

Prior to her strong race in the Kentucky Oaks, The Alys Look had won the SIlverbulletday Stakes and finished third in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks in New Orleans.

The 1 1/16-mile Summertime Oaks looks like a wide-open race, where no filly can truly be dismissed. One of the most interesting challenges to The Alys Look is the unbeaten Anywho. 

One of two in the race for trainer John Sadler, the daughter of Bolt d’Oro was a debut winner last fall at Aqueduct. Following that victory, she was purchased privately by Hronis Racing. 

Shipped to Southern California, she looked good in her local debut, winning a strong allowance race in late March by two lengths. Saturday’s test will be her first try at two turns, as well as in stakes company.

Despite a poor performance in the Kentucky Oaks, And Tell Me Nolies cannot be ignored. A Grade 1 winner last year, she returns to the West Coast, where she has finished first or second in five straight.

Summertime Oaks Predictions and Race Analysis

The Alys Look

This daughter of Connect has proven to be a filly of class with a series of solid stakes performances after breaking her maiden impressively in her third career start. 

A nice stakes winner three starts back, she turned in her best performance yet last time when she was a competitive third in the most prestigious race of the year for 3-year-old fillies. 

With enough speed to stay in touch early, and the ability to close well, she should have every chance on Saturday. It’s hard to know how the change of barns will affect her, but the classy filly is clearly a major contender here.

Anywho

With only two career starts under her belt, this Grade 2 test will give us a better understanding of how good this daughter of Bolt d’Oro is. She looked like a runner in her first two career starts, and especially in her seasonal debut last time. 

Making her first start for new connections, the John Sadler trainee easily handled a strong allowance field over the track. Given plenty of time between starts, improvement can be expected in her second start of the year. 

She will have to prove it going a bit longer and against graded stakes fillies, but she looks like a filly with the talent to win against these. She is a big threat in the Summertime Oaks.

Doinitthehardway

This speedy daughter of Street Sense got back to her winning ways last time. After a disappointing fifth-place finish in the Sunland Park Oaks as the favorite, she returned to Santa Anita and easily handled allowance foes when cut back to 7-furlongs. 

It was a nice prep for this, but now the winner of 2-of-8 lifetime will be back around two turns against stakes company. 

She has shown the talent to compete with these, but when push has come to shove in the past, she has faltered. With other speeds in the race, I am looking elsewhere.

Window Shopping

Trained by Richard Mandella, this daughter of American Pharoah has found trouble in two of her first three career starts. Hopefully, she will have a clean trip in this field of seven. Despite the trouble, she has shown some real talent. 

She broke her maiden by a pole two starts back, and then finished third last time in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks. Despite the trouble, she was narrowly edged out by And Tell Me Nolies for a second. 

Given the experience of her first graded stakes try, I look for improvement this time around. With good speed in the race to set up her rally, I think she has a big shot to pull off a minor upset. She is the top pick.

And Tell Me Nolies

Twice a graded stakes winner last season, I am not sure this daughter of Arrogate has developed as much as some of her competition this year at 3. 

Having said that, she was still able to prove second best in a pair of graded stakes races behind the high-class Faiza earlier this year at Santa Anita. Her trip east for the Kentucky Oaks was a disappointment, as she broke a bit slow and was far back the whole way. 

There is no doubt that she will improve back at Santa Anita, but will it be enough? It’s certainly possible, but I am siding with others here.

Ancient Peace

The second of two for trainer John Sadler, this Canadian-bred will be returning to dirt after a decent fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Providencia Stakes last time on the turf. Overall, three of her four career starts have come on the grass. 

In her only previous try on dirt, she won in a romp in an allowance race taken off the turf. She has a good turn of early speed and should be able to challenge Doinitthehardway early. 

It will be interesting to see what she can do in her second career race on dirt, but I will take a wait-and-see approach with this daughter of War Front.

Lily Poo

This daughter of Tapiture comes into her biggest test to date off as a stakes win over the all-weather surface at Golden Gate Fields. On dirt, she has won once in four starts, with two seconds. 

Her best results on dirt, though, came in maiden races, as she was well beaten by Anywho at Santa Anita two starts back. 

That was actually her only poor race to date, but it does raise the question of whether she has the class to effectively compete against a field like this. I am of the opinion that the bump-up in class will prove a little too much for her on Saturday.

How to Watch the Summertime Oaks

• What: Summertime Oaks (Grade 2)
• Location: Santa Anita
• Time: Saturday, June 3 -- 7:30 pm Eastern time
• How to Watch: FanDuel TV
• Purse: $200,000