Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) possible Colonial Empress posted her second work in two weeks at Churchill Downs the morning of April 25 when she covered four furlongs in :48 2/5.
Trained by D. Wayne Lukas for Brad Kelley's Bluegrass Hall, Colonial Empress was timed in fractional splits of :12 and :24 for the first two furlongs. She was ranked third out of 35 horses that worked the same distance at Churchill April 25.
In her first work at Churchill April 18, Colonial Empress covered four furlongs in a bullet :47 flat.
The daughter of Empire Maker—Colonella, by Pleasant Colony, currently ranks 15th on the Kentucky Oaks graded stakes earnings list with $22,500. She would need a defection from one other horse under consideration for the Oaks to make the 14-horse starting gate.
“We are not in yet,” said Lukas. “She will run in either the Oaks or the Eight Belles.”
The Eight Belles Presented by Xerox (gr. III) will be run on Oaks Day, May 4, at seven furlongs.
Winless thus far in her three-start career, Colonial Empress finished a distant fourth behind Amie's Dini in the Feb. 11 Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park. That was followed by a third-place effort behind On Fire Baby in the March 10 Honeybee Stakes (gr. III) at the Arkansas track.
In her most recent start, Colonial Empress ran fifth, beaten 16 3/4 lengths by Believe You Can in the March 31 Fair Grounds Oaks (gr. II).
Bred in Kentucky by the late Edward P. Evans, Colonial Empress was a $175,000 purchase at the 2011 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
