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Grade 1-placed And Why Not tuned up for a start in Friday's Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks with a bullet four-furlong workout Saturday morning over the fast main track at Churchill Downs. The daughter of Street Cry, who accompanied stablemate and top Kentucky Derby contender Union Rags to the track, was timed in :46 4/5 with splits of :12, :23 3/5 and :35. She galloped out five furlongs in :59 4/5 under exercise rider Peter Brette. The half-mile move was the best of 47 at the distance. "I thought the filly worked real well. She looked good. Peter said she worked well and galloped out good," trainer Michael Matz said. "She ran a real good race here in the Pocahontas." And Why Not, who finished second behind On Fire Baby in the Grade 2 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs last October, ran seventh in her three-year-old debut in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 31."The filly has done very well. She obviously needed that race and was not fit enough, but we were running out of time," Matz said. "Unfortunately, we used the race as a prep and I think between the race and tracks being different, I think it should help her out an awful lot." |
Eden's Moon breezed six furlongs in 1:14, the fastest of four works at the distance, under the Twin Spires. The Malibu Moon bay miss captured the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes prior to a last-out third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks.
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"She was by herself, just cruised around there and worked nice," trainer Bob Baffert said. Jockey Martin Garcia, who will ride the filly in the Kentucky Oaks, was aboard for her first work over the Churchill Downs surface. Stablemate and Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes third Jemima's Pearl galloped 1 1/2 miles on the track. The Distorted Humor filly will give Baffert a one-two punch in the Oaks. Amie's Dini, working in company with the Discreet Cat three-year-old maiden Cahoots, turned five furlongs in 1:05 2/5 under jockey Jon Court. Cahoots, ridden by Greta Kuntzweiler, broke a length in front with Amie's Dini finishing in front at the finish. Fractions for the work were :14, :27 1/5, :40 4/5 and :53 1/5 with a gallop out time of 1:18 2/5. "Perfect. But everybody says 'perfect,' right?" trainer Ron Moquett said. "But it was. I wanted to go steady 13s and relax. There is going to be a lot of speed in the Oaks and I want to put the race in the rider's hands. She can go :58 or 1:05. I am trying to come in with a fresh horse." |
Runner-up in the Fantasy and Grade 3 Honeybee, the daughter of Bandini will have some paddock schooling next week but will not visit the gate.
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"If it isn't broke, don't fix it," Moquett said of visiting the gate. Karlovy Vary completed her major preparation for Friday's Kentucky Oaks by working five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 under exercise rider Marty Metcalf. Fractions for the move, accomplished at 6:30 a.m. (EST) over Churchill's fast track, were :13, :25 1/5 and :36 4/5. The bay daughter of Dynaformer galloped six furlongs in 1:15 3/5. "I was going to wait until 8:30 to work, but I ran into some rain coming over here from Lexington, so we went early," trainer Rusty Arnold explained. "I told him to go in 1:01 and that's what he did. It was a good work." Karlovy Vary, recent winner of the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes to earn her spot in the Oaks starting gate, had company of sorts in the work in Archetype. That three-year-old unraced filly by Arch started about 15 lengths in front of Karlovy Vary. "She was supposed to start a length or two in front, but everything turned out well," Arnold said. |
Some paddock schooling will be on the agenda for Karlovy Vary next week.
"She will go to the paddock Tuesday and Wednesday," Arnold said of the filly who arrived from Keeneland on Tuesday. "She would have gone today, but they are running at night. She went to the gate the day before we left Keeneland."
Trainer Todd Pletcher sent out Oaks hopefuls Broadway's Alibi and In Lingerie to each work a half-mile in :48 2/5. The fillies tied for the best of five moves over a sloppy track at Palm Meadows Training Center Saturday morning.
Following the workout, Pletcher said a decision has yet to be made on whether Broadway's Alibi will join In Lingerie in the Oaks. The Vindication filly is two-for-two thus far this season after taking the Grade 2 Forward Gal by 16 3/4 lengths and the Grade 3 Comely by 3 1/2 lengths.
In Lingerie, a six-length winner of the Grade 3 Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park, is already scheduled to ship from the Boynton Beach, Florida, training center to Churchill Downs Tuesday for a start in the Oaks. The Empire Maker daughter is two-for-three in her career, with her only loss coming as a second in optional claimer in her only foray on a conventional dirt track at Gulfstream Park.
In other Oaks notes:
While Pletcher sent out his fillies to the track on Saturday, trainer Tony Dutrow opted to cancel a scheduled workout for Grace Hall due to the sloppy conditions at Palm Meadows.
"We're hopeful we can get it done tomorrow," Dutrow said. "It's sketchy. It's iffy. They're talking scattered showers for the next few days. If I'm not happy with the racetrack tomorrow, I won't be breezing her tomorrow."
Grace Hall, a Grade 1-winning daughter of Empire Maker, is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs on Tuesday. Second by a neck in the Grade 2 Davona Dale to open her sophomore season, the bay miss will enter the Kentucky Oaks off a 6 1/2-length triumph in the Gulfstream Park Oaks.
On Fire Baby, Sacristy and Yara all walked the shedrow on Saturday following workouts the day before. On Fire Baby was at Barn 37 and recorded seven furlongs in 1:27 on Friday. Trainer Gary Hartlage said the Smoke Glacken filly came out of the work well and would return to the track Sunday.
Sacristy walked the shedrow at Barn 10A a day after working seven furlongs in 1:29. Kelsey Danner, assistant to trainer Wayne Catalano, said the Pulpit filly came out of the work well and would also return to the track on Sunday.
Yara walked the shedrow of trainer Jose Garoffalo's barn at Trackside Training Center the morning after breezing four furlongs in :51 at Churchill Downs.
"She came out of the work excellent," Garoffalo said, adding that the chestnut daughter of Put It Back would walk again Sunday and then return to the track Monday. She will be vanned from Trackside to Churchill Downs on Tuesday after morning training.
Believe You Can, Summer Applause, Colonial Empress and Oaks Lilly all galloped on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Believe You Can galloped 1 1/2 miles after the morning renovation break with trainer Larry Jones in the saddle ahead of a scheduled Sunday morning work.Summer Applause visited the starting gate and then galloped the same distance under exercise rider Jeff Lopez before the morning renovation break.
Colonial Empress galloped after the morning break under exercise rider Rudy Colon while fellow Oaks also-eligible Oaks Lily jogged a mile before the renovation break. Oaks Lilly worked a half-mile in :49 2/5 on Friday.
Up north at Woodbine, Hard Not to Like was so full of herself that trainer Gail Cox eschewed the usual walking routine following a workout Friday and sent the Hard Spun filly to the track Saturday morning to jog a mile. The Ashland runner-up clocked five furlongs in 1:01 3/5 on Friday and will head to Louisville from her Woodbine base on Tuesday.
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