Wait a While Undergoes Gate Schooling

Trainer Todd Pletcher said racing fans will not have to "Wait a While" for his grey filly to be loaded in to the starting gate for Friday's Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) after undergoing gate-schooling sessions.

"She will be blindfolded and led into the gate first," said the two-time Eclipse Award winning trainer. "We've done all the gate schooling we are going to do with her."

Pletcher said the daughter of Maria's Mon accepted the blindfold and appeared comfortable in the starting gate.

Owned by Arindel Farm, Wait a While has a history with starting gate problems, most recently delaying the start of the Ashland Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland for a brief time. "She was a bad girl at the gate," Pletcher said.

Wait a while has raced seven times and finished in the top three on six of those occasions, including a second-place effort in the Ashland. She began the year with a 14-length win in the Davona Dale Stakes (gr. II) and followed that effort with third-place finish in the Bonnie Miss (gr. II).

Jockey Garret Gomez gets the call in the Oaks, with the pair breaking from post eight as the co-second choice at 5-1.