Indian Blessing Could Miss Kentucky Oaks

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(from Santa Anita stable notes)
After suffering her first defeat March 8 in the Fair Grounds Oaks (gr. II), Bob Baffert said 2007 2-year-old filly champion Indian Blessing would receive a break and possibly miss the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) on May 4.

“I think I might just freshen her up,” said Baffert at Santa Anita the morning after the New Orleans race. “I don’t know about the Kentucky Oaks. I might not run her.

“We learned something in the Fair Grounds Oaks,” Baffert said. “Garrett (Gomez) tried to get her to slow down, but she was fighting him. We realized that you’ve got to just let her go or she’s not going to give you that extra kick. We learned that. (But) she’s just fast. Her weapon is to run ‘em off their feet and just separate herself and let them come get her.

“Yesterday, they stayed close to us. That was good tactics on their part," he added in reference to trainer Larry Jones, who saddled winner Proud Spell, and jockey Gabriel Saez. "They’re two really good fillies.”

Proud Spell won by 2 1/4 lengths over Indian Blessing, the 3-10 favorite in the 1 1/16-mile race. The loss ended the Indian Charlie filly's five-race winning streak, which included grade I wins last year in the Frizette and Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Indian Blessing defeated Proud Spell in their previous start, the Silverbulletday (gr. III) at Fair Grounds Feb. 9, by a diminishing one length.

Baffert said Indian Blessing was due back in California this week.

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