Millies Possesion wins Oaks Elim#1

There were two eliminations for the 94th edition of the Hambletonian Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the trot, with the first five finishers from each dash returning for the $500,000 final, which takes place on Hambletonian Day (Aug. 3).

The first elim saw the Jim Campbell-trained Millies Possesion stay unbeaten in eight lifetime starts. The daughter of Possess The Will-Fashion Athena sailed past early leader Sonnet Grace once they straightened away down the backside on the way to hitting the half in :56.

Evident Beauty, who went parked the final three-eighths, made an explosive late charge at the leader but came up a nose short in a superb try. Queen Of Trixs (third), Asiago (fourth) and Sonnet Grace (fifth) were the others to earn a berth in the final.

Millies Possesion completed the mile in 1:52.3 and returned $3.60 to win as the 4-5 public choice. Campbell will be searching for his second Oaks score, having won it with Broadway Schooner in 2009.

“She’s still learning the game,” said winning driver Dexter Dunn. “She’s come a long way this season. I thought Dave (Miller, driving Evident Beauty) was going to beat me, but to my filly’s credit, she stuck her head up.”