The Bayakoa Stakes G3 2025
Compiled by Robert Yates
Contact: Chris Ho, Vice President of Marketing, cho@oaklawn.com, 501-623-4411 ext. 4201
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Photo Credit: Coady Media
WILD BOUT HILARY - The Bayakoa Stakes G3 - 33rd Running
HOT SPRINGS, AR – Wild Bout Hilary, the longest shot on the board, scored a front-running upset victory in the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles Saturday afternoon at Oaklawn.
Wild Bout Hilary (16-1) represented the first career graded stakes victory and first Oaklawn victory for co-owner/trainer Tanner Tracy.
Wild Bout Hilary ($34) finished a head in front of Free Like a Girl, with 2-5 favorite Loved another half-length farther back in third. Little Jamie and Corningstone completed the order of finish. The field was reduced to five after the scratch of Bow Draw.
The complexion of the race changed when multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Corningstone, the 3-1 second choice, hesitated at the start and trailed throughout. The absence of Corningstone – an expected pace factor – opened the door for Wild Bout Hilary to assume the lead from post 2 and set soft, uncontested fractions
After sailing through a :24.47 opening quarter and :48.94 half-mile, Wild Bout Hilary led Free Like a Girl by approximately a length turning for home. The advantage grew to two lengths in midstretch and Wild Bout Hilary had just enough to hold off Free Like a Girl on the outside.
Free Like a Girl, the all-time leading accredited Louisiana-bred money winner, was bidding for her first graded stakes victory. Instead, the Bayakoa was her fifth runner-up finish in 11 career graded races.
Wild Bout Hilary carried 119 pounds – 5 less than Free Like a Girl. The winning time over a fast track was 1:44.15.
A 4-year-old daughter of sprint champion Midnight Lute, Wild Bout Hilary won for the sixth time in 13 lifetime starts to raise her earnings to $305,340. She was purchased for $35,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Wild Bout Hilary concluded her 3-year-old campaign with a front-running 5 ¼-length victory in the $100,000 off-the-turf Pago Hop Stakes at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 28 at Fair Grounds. The Bayakoa was her 2025 debut.
Racing resumes Friday at Oaklawn. First post is 12:30 p.m. (Central).
BAYAKOA QUOTES
Winning jockey C.J. McMahon (Wild Bout Hilary): “I mean, there was speed in here. The plan was to get her to break as sharp as possible. If she put us there (lead) without having to fight too hard, great. We worked her behind horses last week and she did phenomenal coming off the pace. So, I was confident either way it went. She was doing it very easily. I thought I had it at the end.”
Winning co-owner/trainer Tanner Tracy (Wild Bout Hilary): “That’s kind of how she’s been running lately (on the lead), but nobody else wanted to go with her, so it was great. That’s why we play the game (on winning his first career graded stakes race).”
Second-place co-owner/trainer Chasey Deville Pomier (Free Like a Girl): “So close. I’m proud of her every time. She’s never done anything that makes me disappointed in her. She tries her hardest, so that’s all I can ask.”
Third-place jockey Tyler Gaffalione (Loved): “The pace scenario changed when the 1 (Corningstone) didn’t break and the leader (Wild Bout Hilary) kind of got left alone. She was able to dictate things and do it her own way. Hard to make up that kind of ground in these kind of races.”
