Vino Rosso’s Bottle of Rouge shows her class with handy Sunland Oaks win

Bottle of Rouge picked up her first 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) Sunday with her 1 ½-length victory in the $250,000 Sunland Park Oaks.

Trained by Bob Baffert for his wife Jill, the 3-year-old Vino Rosso filly won her maiden and the Del Mar Debutante (G1) last year, defeating eventual 2-year-old filly champ Super Corredora and stablemate Explora, respectively in those races.

Away from the races since then, Bottle of Rouge got a good stalking trip in Sunday’s one-mile race. Third through the first half-mile, she made a three-wide move for the lead going into the final bend. Coming into the stretch, Bottle of Rouge led by a length, then dug in to hold off Touch of Magic in deep stretch.

With the win, Bottle of Rouge is 3-1-0 in five starts and has earned $427,000. The gray/roan filly was bred in Kentucky by Kathie Maybee.

Should she continue on the Kentucky Oaks trail, Bottle of Rouge likely will need one more points-earning finish to assure herself a spot on the first Friday in May.

Perennially in the top five among his generation, Vino Rosso is currently fourth on this year’s Fourth-Crop sire list. He stands this year at Spendthrift for $7,500 S&N.