Four races and nearly seven months passed between Quietside’s debut win at Saratoga and her second victory, but five weeks after capturing the Honeybee Stakes Quietside made it two in a row when she wore down Simply Joking in the Fantasy Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. “She’s peaking at the right time,” said Jose Ortiz, who rode Quietside, a homebred, for trainer John Ortiz and Arkansan John Ed Anthony’s Shortleaf Stable. The two Ortizes and Shortleaf will dearly hope the peak holds through the first Friday in May, when, all being well, Quietside figures to attract support in the Kentucky Oaks. She and Simply Joking both will have sufficient points to make the Oaks field, capped at 14 runners and determined through a series of qualifying races selected by Churchill Downs Inc. Quietside got 100 points, and Simply Joking gained 50, the top two much the best in the Grade 2, $750,000 Fantasy. Runnin N Gunnin finished third, nearly nine lengths behind Simply Joking and 3 1/4 clear of fourth-place Princess Em Too, who was a head better than Kinzie Queen. The third- through fifth-place finishers earned, respectively, 25, 15, and 10 Oaks qualifying points. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Quietside rocked back as the gate opened and broke a step slow, quickly recovering as Simply Joking, without being asked, showed enough speed to cross over from post position No. 6 and get to the rail before the first turn. Quietside came up to stalk the pace through modest fractions of 23.89 and 48.09 before things heated up on the far turn. Past the three-eighths pole, Quietside sidled up alongside Simply Joking, perhaps poking her head in front just after the five-sixteenths marker. Simply Joking cornered for home slightly better than Quietside and briefly had momentum, but Quietside jumped back into the fray. As Simply Joking drifted slightly out, the two fillies head and head, nearly touching, jockey Jaime Torres held his crop in his right hand, unable to properly deploy it, and by the time Torres switched sticks, Quietside had started edging clear. Simply Joking kept battling but the margin was three-quarters of a length at the finish, Quietside quickly shutting down past the finish, Simply Joking galloping out well in front. “I knew it was a two-horse race and I tried to apply as much pressure as I could without using too much,” said Ortiz, who rode Quietside for the first time in the Honeybee. “Today she had to run. It was a dogfight in the stretch.” Simply Joking lost for the first time in three starts after landing the six-furlong Letellier Stakes in her career debut on Dec. 26, and the two-turn Silverbulletday on Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds. Trainer Whit Beckman entered Simply Joking in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds, but withdrew the filly after Simply Joking contracted a minor illness a couple days before the race. So, Simply Joking’s third career start came 10 weeks after her second and against a Grade 1-placed filly making her seventh start, one who’s been in steady training since late last spring. In other words, this was a good loss for Simply Joking, who might also prefer racing with a target than as one. The win money poured in on Quietside, who paid $3.60 while heavily favored over Simply Joking. Racing over a fast track, Quietside, a daughter of Malibu Moon and Benner Island, by Speightstown, ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.31 (91 Beyer Speed Figure). That was just fast enough to best a worthy rival in Simply Joking. Now, it’s on to Kentucky. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.