De Seroux has said she and Michael Paulson will decide on whether to run Azeri in the Whitney after they see whether top older males Mineshaft or Medaglia d'Oro are going to run in the race.
Azeri, the reigning Horse of the Year who posted her 10th straight win in the Vanity Handicap (gr. I), worked a half-mile in :47 at San Luis Rey Downs on Monday. The work was the fastest of three recorded for that distance at the private training facility in Southern California.Trainer Laua De Seroux has not disclosed when the 5-year-old mare owned by the Allen Paulson Living Trust will make her next start. The trainer has indicated Azeri's next outing will come in August in Saratoga or at Del Mar and could include a start against males.Among the options for Azeri are a defense of her 2002 victory in the Clement Hirsch Handicap, a 1 1/6-mile test for fillies and mares that will be run at Del Mar on Aug. 10. Azeri also could face males in the $750,000 Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 2.