Trainer Todd Pletcher said Broadway's Alibi would start in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) while In Lingerie will be held back in favor of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (gr. II) May 18.
With news that In Lingerie would not be pointed to the May 4 Run for the Lilies at Churchill Downs, the maiden Colonial Empress appears to have a spot in the Oaks starting gate.
E. Paul Robsham Stables’ Broadway's Alibi was confirmed April 29 for a start in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) the morning after a four-furlong workout at Palm Meadows Training Center.
“She’s doing really well,” said Pletcher, who saddled the daughter of Vindication for a victory in the April 7 Comely (gr. II) at Aqueduct last time out. “Everything she’s done this year has been perfect. She handled the mile stretch-out well. We brought her back here with the idea to let her tell us if she wanted to run in the Oaks or something more conservative. She’s done everything so well, so we decided it was worth a shot.”
Broadway’s Alibi, who breezed a half mile in :48.45 over a sloppy track April 28, has won four straight, including the Jan. 29 Forward Gal (gr. II) by 16 3/4 lengths at Gulfstream Park, since finishing second in her career debut at Delaware last summer.
Scheduled to be shipped to Kentucky May 1, Broadway’s Alibi will be ridden by John Velazquez.
Pletcher also reported that Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gary Barber’s In Lingerie, who had been considered for the Oaks, would instead be pointed to Pimlico for the Black-Eyed Susan.
“She’s a pretty lightly raced filly,” said Pletcher of the daughter of Empire Maker, who most recently posted a six-length victory in the March 24 Bourbonette Oaks (gr. III) at Turfway Park. “We felt like it was a more suitable place to step up to a graded stakes on dirt. She’s doing very well, but after talking with Aron Wellman (president of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners) and Gary Barber we decided to take a little more cautious approach. We just felt it was a better progressive step for her.”
Colonial Empress, a daughter of Empire Maker, turned in a routine 1 1/2 mile gallop the morning of April 29 under exercise rider Rudy Colon.
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas admits the well-bred filly has been ambitiously placed to date, racing exclusively in stakes in her three career starts.
“We’ve been pushing the envelope a little bit with her getting into stakes races,” Lukas said of the filly, whose best effort so far is a third behind fellow Oaks contender On Fire Baby in the March 10 Honeybee (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park. “She’s pretty well seasoned now and we’ll try one more big one and then decide if we need to regroup or not in the maiden ranks.”