OZONE PARK, N.Y. – European-based runners won both the Belmont Oaks and Saratoga Oaks and on Saturday Eternal Hope looks to give the Europeans a sweep of the New York Racing Association’s Turf Triple for 3-year-old fillies when she heads a field of seven entered in the Grade 3, $350,000 Jockey Club Oaks Invitational at Aqueduct. Aspen Grove won the Belmont Oaks for trainer James Stack and is now with Jack Sisterson. Elusive Princess dominated the Saratoga Oaks for Jean Philippe Dubois and has since been transferred to Arnaud Delacour in Maryland. Neither of those two are in this spot, with both expected to target the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup next month at Keeneland. Eternal Hope, trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, comes out of a third-place finish in the Group 2 Prix Alec Head at Deauville last month. That race was won by Jannah Rose, who earlier in the year won the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary, beating, among others the aforementioned Elusive Princess. In the Alec Head, Jannah Rose beat Lumiere Rock, who came of that race to win the Group 2 Blandford Stakes last Sunday at The Curragh. Eternal Hope finished only 1 1/2 lengths behind Jannah Rose and Lumiere Rock. “The two fillies that ended up in front of her are just nice horses, there was no disgrace in the run,” said Chris Connet, Appleby’s assistant. “You’d like to think she’d be able to run a big race.” :: Get Belmont at the Big A Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day. Eternal Hope’s two career wins came over synthetic surfaces. She won the Lingfield Oaks Trial before finishing seventh, beaten 21 1/4 lengths, in the Epsom Oaks. “Unfortunately, it was a flat run, I don’t think it was her on the day,” Connet said of the Epsom Oaks, “She trained well back home, this looked like a nice spot to bring her over and give her a chance at a nice pot and a nice graded stakes.” Jamie Spencer, who won the 2021 Jockey Club Derby aboard Yibir for Appleby and Godolphin when it was held at Belmont Park, is named to ride Eternal Hope. Eternal Hope has a running style that should put her on or close to the lead in the early stages of the Jockey Club Oaks. The only other apparent speed in the field is Quarrel, who is coming out of a front-running first-level allowance win at Saratoga on Sept. 1. Last Call, trained by Kevin Attard, won the Grade 1 Natalma at 2 for her lone win in eight career starts. She comes out of a fourth-place finish just 13 days ago in the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs, a race where she was next-to-last in a 12-horse field entering the stretch but rallied along the inside to finish fourth. “She’s been an unlucky a horse a little bit,” Attard said. “She galloped out great in the Kentucky Downs race, her pedigree leans toward distance. . . . If that race doesn’t take that much out of her, she should be really competitive in this race.” Irad Ortiz Jr., the leading rider in North America, will ride Last Call from the rail. Highland Grace, a daughter of American Pharoah and from a female family full of graded stakes winners, won a maiden and a first-level allowance at Belmont Park in early summer before being given some time off. Robin Smullen, assistant to trainer Barclay Tagg, said that the owners wanted to wait for a graded opportunity going a distance of ground in her own age group. The Jockey Club Oaks fits the bill. “A mile and three-eighths is probably her best distance,” Smullen said. “Since July, we have pointed for this race.” Smullen also believes the likelihood of firm turf should benefit Highland Grace. Though Highland Grace won an allowance over yielding ground on July 4, Smullen said jockey Flavien Prat “said she did not like the course at all, she was just good enough to overcome it.” :: Bet the races with a $250 First Deposit Match + $10 Free Bet and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. With Prat out of town Saturday, Javier Castellano has picked up the mount on Highland Grace. Speirling Beag, who finished sixth behind Aspen Grove in the Belmont Oaks, comes out of a nose defeat to Bolivie in the Searching Stakes on Aug. 13 at Laurel Park. Neecie Marie and Stephanie’s Charm were both cross-entered in Friday’s Winter Memories Stakes here, though Stephanie’s Charm is three-deep on the also-eligible list. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.