The reputation of Chester Porter, Phil Milner and Randall Bloch's My Boston Gal was tarnished a bit during her winter in Florida, but a victory by the daughter of Boston Harbor in Thursday's Stonerside Beaumont Stakes (Grade II) at Keeneland restored much of that lost luster and put her squarely in the picture for the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks (GI) on May 2.

My Boston Gal rallied from fifth under jockey Pat Day and turned back Bird Town in a stretch-long drive to win the $250,000 event with deceptive ease by 1 1/4 lengths. Midnight Cry finished third.

The Carl Nafzger-trained filly looked like a budding superstar last fall when she completed an unbeaten, three-race campaign with a victory in the Golden Rod (GII) at Churchill Downs. But My Boston Gal fell flat in her 3-year-old debut when she finished a distant fifth behind Yell in the Davona Dale (GIII) at Florida's Gulfstream Park and returned to run second to Ivanavinalot in the Bonnie Miss (GII) over the same track. But she encountered little trouble in winning the Stonerside Beaumont and she completed the Beard Course distance of seven furlongs and 184 feet in 1:26.87 over a "muddy" track.

"She really didn't care for the racing surface," said Day. "She was swapping leads all the way. She swapped leads in the stretch and still won handily."

"Two things really pleased me," said Nafzger of My Boston Gal's effort. "She let the speed go and she split horses. It also pleased me when Pat said she didn't handle the track. This was a good test for her both mentally and physically."

The order of finish was completed by Chimichurri, Adopted Daughter, Elegant Designer, Vibs, Perfect Story, and Wild Light.

Carl Pollard's My Trusty Cat, an easy winner of the Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park last time out, heads a field of six 3-year-old fillies in the $200,000 Fantasy Stakes (GII) on Friday afternoon at Oaklawn Park.

The David Vance-trained daughter of Tale of the Cat carries a 3-3-2 record in eight starts -- and the supreme confidence of her trainer -- into the 1 1/16-mile Fantasy.

"I'm running the best filly in the race," Vance said, "and, barring bad racing luck, she'll win."

Vance added blinkers to the equipment worn by My Trusty Cat in the Honeybee and the result was a breakthrough performance as she romped to an easy five-length victory. Donald Pettinger will ride.

My Trusty Cat will face a solid field of five rivals that include local hopefuls Ruby's Reception, the Honeybee runner-up, and Kristina's Wish, winner of an allowance at the Fantasy distance last time out. Other contenders include Kentucky-based Westerly Breeze, the Carl Nafzger-trained winner of the Walmac International Alcibiades (GII) at Keeneland, and California invaders Go For Glamour, third to Composure and Elloluv in the Santa Anita Oaks (GI) and Harbor Blues, winner of the Arizona Oaks at Turf Paradise.

Dubai-Based Filly Could Contest Oaks -- Godolphin will not be traveling to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Oaks this year, but a Dubai-based filly could still participate in the latter.

The connections of Desert Glow, runner-up to Godolphin's Danuta in the UAE Oaks, have been in contact with Churchill Downs racing officials and have expressed a strong interest in running in the 1 1/8-mile Oaks on May 2. The Irish-bred daughter of Machiavellian, who is trained by Satish Seemar, has failed to win in seven races and has earned $65,374. She had two starts last year in Ireland.

Desert Glow was not nominated to the Kentucky Oaks, so payment of a $25,000 supplemental fee (5% of the purse) would be required to make her eligible -- along with $2,500 to enter and $2,500 to start.

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