Careless Jewel earns a 104 Beyer in Oaks (Click for larger image)

Careless Jewel became the latest star to emerge from the epic first crop of champion sire Tapit, as the gray filly romped to a front-running 7 ¼-length win in the $250,000 Delaware Oaks (G2) on July 18th at Delaware Park.

Making her stakes debut, Careless Jewel broke well and took control early, leading the field of 3-year-old fillies down the backstretch of the 1 1/16-mile event through an honest opening half-mile in 46.94 seconds. Heading into the far turn, challengers began to close in on Careless Jewel, and the Tapit filly would get the first big class test of her career turning for home.

Test passed – with flying colors.

Careless Jewel straightened for the run to the wire in the stretch and gave her rivals the slip, striding away powerfully to turn the Delaware Oaks into a procession. She hit the wire all alone under Canadian rider Robert Landry, stopping the clock in 1:42.96 over a fast local main track.

The performance was good enough to earn Careless Jewel a gaudy 104 Beyer Speed Figure. Only Rachel Alexandra has earned a faster Beyer this year for 3-year-old fillies around two turns.

“I was pretty confident in the filly and when you are confident in your horse everything just seems to gel,” said Landry. “I just let the filly be where she was comfortable and she kicked on. She is the real deal.”

Conditioned by Canada-based trainer Josie Carroll, the lightly-raced Careless Jewel was making her first start on the dirt following three starts on Polytrack. She started her racing career at Keeneland in April finishing third after a rough trip. Since then, Careless Jewel has been nothing short of dominant, winning three in a row by a combined 18 lengths. Prior to her breakthrough performance in Saturday’s Delaware Oaks, she showed her potential in her first try around two turns last month, cruising to an eye-catching 7 ¼-length win in a Woodbine allowance race.

“When we stretched her out last time, just the way she did it,” said Carroll.  “He could have taken the lead at any time with her and she had so much horse and then when he did finally turn her loose, she just sprinted away.  You do not see that a lot first time going a route.  She impressed me that day and we thought it was time to test her.  It looks like she passed the test.”

Careless Jewel was bred in Kentucky by Bill Andrade and Gainesway Thoroughbreds, which sold the filly for $40,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September to current owner Donver Stable. Out of the Hennessy mare Sweet and Careless, Careless Jewel is now 3-for-4 with earnings of $222,846 and a bright future ahead.

For Tapit, the future is also extremely bright. Saturday’s victory marked the tenth graded stakes win and fifth graded stakes winner from his first crop of runners.