Oaks Updates

Photo By: Rick Schmitt

Kentucky Oaks favorite Balance schools for the first time in the paddock at Churchill Downs Tuesday in between the live racing program.

BALANCE - Trainer David Hofmans said the two-time Grade I winner passed an important test Tuesday morning - an ability to handle mud.

When overnight rain storms added more water to an already wet track, Hofmans decided to wait until the final hour of training before sending the Amerman Racing Stables LLC runner out for her exercise.

Under rider Erin Buttigieg, Balance went to the paddock before going out to gallop once around the track.

It was very late, about 9:15," Hofmans said. "I felt the track was safe enough to do that and I wanted her to get over it to see if she handled it. She seemed to handle it really well. The rider said she seemed to enjoy it and get through it pretty good."

Balance has not competed on a wet track in her seven-race career. Hofmans said that he is more confident about Balance in the mud, if that's what she encounters in the Oaks on Friday.

"I think I feel a lot better about it now than I did before we trained her this morning," he said. "I wasn't sure if she would handle it OK."

Hofmans said that Balance is such a curious filly that she needs time to acclimate.

"That's exactly why we went to the paddock," Hofmans said. "She's schooling in the third race today. She will school every day from now until the race. It will just give her more to see, more to do. The more she sees, the more she accepts things."

BUSHFIRE - One day Ron and Ricki Rashinski were listening to The B-52s' album Cosmic Thing and heard a track called "Bushfire."

"I thought it would be a cool name for a horse," said Ron this week from his home in Lemont, near Chicago. Some of the lyrics include: "Well, everybody likes to dance around the heat and fire; Oh, lightning strike twice! Hey, everybody bask in the afterglow; Bushfire."

Little did they know then that their new filly by Louis Quatorze out of Traki Traki would become a stakes winner, a Grade I stakes winner at that, and compete in the country's most important race for 3-year-old fillies, the Kentucky Oaks. Indeed, they are hoping that "lightning strikes twice" for them in the form of a Grade I victory in the state of Kentucky come Friday. Bushfire won an important prep, Keeneland's prestigious Ashland Stakes, in her last start.

The Rashinskis, real estate managers by trade, got into horse racing in the mid-1990s.

"I saw an article on Ruffian in The Reader's Digest and thought it (horse racing) was interesting. I went to Hawthorne and thought, man, this is quite an industry and partnered on my first horse," said Ron Rashinski.

Now several years later, the Rashinskis have their best horse to date in Bushfire, trained by Eddie Kenneally.

"He buys our horses for us," said Rashinski. "My only claim to fame in all this is that I've been able to identify people - horsemen - who are honest, good people. I can't tell too much about how a horse looks."

Bushfire galloped after the break at Churchill Downs on Tuesday morning over a sloppy track. In six career starts, the filly's only off-the-board performance came over an "off" track when she finished seventh in the Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park. She will school in the paddock during today's first race.

DIPLOMAT LADY - With trainer Chris Paasch on hand, the Forestry filly was out late for a two-mile jog around the sloppy oval Tuesday morning.

On Monday, Diplomat Lady was the last horse out on the track when she breezed a half-mile in :51.20 (21st of 24 works at the distance) over a muddy strip under jockey Alex Solis.

"Normally she would just walk the day after a breeze," Paasch said, "but I decided to jog her because I don't know if she got enough out of the work. Everything worked against her breezing faster - how late she went out, and the condition of the track. I would have liked to see her get more out of it."

Diplomat Lady did not step onto the track until 9:50 a.m. Monday and was all alone as she broke off from the half-mile pole for her final serious Oaks drill.

"She normally would go out around 7," Paasch said. "So by 9, she was getting anxious. She walked around the shedrow a long time."

Diplomat Lady, who shipped from California to win the Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland last out, had worked a bullet half in :46.80 at Hollywood Park before that race, but had horses in front of her and got into a competitive mode.

Solis was aboard for the Monday work because Friday will be the first time he rides the filly, who has had five jockeys in her eight career starts.

Owners Charles and Karen Cono were on hand to watch their filly jog Tuesday morning.

Diplomat Lady became a Grade 1 winner last December when she took the Hollywood Starlet for her first win around two turns. A $400,000 sales purchase last year, she is second only to Balance on the list of Oaks graded stakes earnings, with a total of $460,600.

"She's had some issues," Paasch said, "but I think we've solved them. She's a very smart filly, very mature for her age, and she's handled all the new situations very well."

ERMINE - Oxbow Racing's Ermine galloped early Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs, just when heavy rain and thunder hit the area, "but it was a good thing," said trainer Ronny Werner. "Galloping in the rain, it was not too busy out there."

A $45,000 Ocala Breeders Sales August Yearling purchase, Ermine was selected by the couple that comprises Oxbow Racing - Art and Stephanie Preston. Interestingly, since buying the filly, they have also purchased the dam, Red Mischief, and have bred her back to Exchange Rate, Ermine's sire.

Art Preston owns Preston Exploration, an oil and gas exploration company based in Houston, and has also been involved in Thoroughbred racing for about 30 years. Stephanie, at one time a jockey, is currently studying equine veterinary science at the University of Florida and is working on getting her PhD. In collaboration with the university, the couple has developed an "Equine Soundness Program" where they are coming up with ways to train yearlings and 2-year-olds to be more sound.

The Prestons own a 100-acre training facility in Ocala, Fla. as well as a farm in Lexington. They have had success with stakes winners Victory Gallop, Distorted Humor and Da Hoss in the past, but have never had a filly in the Kentucky Oaks.

EX CAELIS - With lightning illuminating the Louisville skyline accompanied by the steady staccato of heavy rain shortly after 6 a.m., the Circle C Group Stables' Ex Caelis galloped a mile and three-eighths under exercise rider Jesse Circillo.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas was at the barn briefly, but returned home before training began as he continues to recuperate from a pulled muscle in his leg.

Ex Caelis will be ridden by 22-year-old apprentice Julien Leparoux, whose agent is former jockey Steve Bass. Bass also served as the exercise rider during the Triple Crown campaigns of Kentucky Derby winners Alysheba in 1987 and Sunday Silence in 1989.

"I will tell him to just ride the Oaks like it was another race," Bass said. "Just go out there and have a good time. You can't go out there and say, 'Oh, it's the Oaks, I have to ride a certain way.' You have to ride your horse the way the horse likes to run or you are going to mess things up."

Leparoux, who was at Turfway Park Tuesday morning working horses for trainer Patrick Biancone, got a taste of the Derby experience two years ago when he was the exercise rider for Lion Heart, the Biancone trainee who finished second to Smarty Jones.

"He knows about the crowds," Bass said of Leparoux, "but I don't know if he knows what the crowd and the sound is like when you turn for home."

ITTY BITTY PRETTY - After Itty Bitty Pretty galloped 1-1/4 miles over the sloppy track Tuesday morning, trainer Paul McGee praised the California-based filly as being a good guest of his Churchill Downs stable.

"She's a classy acting filly. She's quiet and does everything you ask her to do," said McGee, who is overseeing the training of Itty Bitty Pretty for California-based trainer Doug O'Neill. "She's been a good guest, and she eats good, which is what you like to see."

McGee doesn't expect the Grade III Santa Ysabel Stakes winner to be compromised by her small physical stature in her quest to get the distance of Friday's 1-1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks.

"I think it depends more on pedigree than anything," McGee said. "A horse is either bred to go long or not." Itty Bitty Pretty will be ridden by Patrick Valenzuela.

LAST ROMANCE/WONDER LADY ANNE L - With the track muddy again following the overnight thunderstorms, trainer Richard Dutrow's fillies were limited to jogging Tuesday morning.

Dutrow's assistant Michele Nevin was aboard for Wonder Lady Anne L's trip around the track. Joe Deegan handled Last Romance.

Nevin said that Dutrow, who had not arrived in Louisville, will make the decision whether the fillies will have some sort of a breeze Wednesday morning. However, Nevin said both horses are ready for the Oaks.

"They're up to schedule with their breezes," Nevin said.

Last Romance, a daughter of Wild Rush owned Sanford J. Goldfarb, Michael Dubb and Bunch of Characters Stable, has won three of seven lifetime starts. In three races at Aqueduct this year she was second in the Busanda, fourth in the Busher and won the Wayward Lass, all ungraded stakes.

Wonder Lady Anne L, owned by IEAH Stables and Joseph Plumeri, completed her 2-year-old season with a victory in the Grade II Demoiselle at Aqueduct. This year at Gulfstream Park, the Real Quiet filly was third in the Davona Dale and second in the Bonnie Miss, both Grade II stakes.

LEMONS FOREVER - Lemons Forever had a slow gallop at Churchill Downs on Tuesday morning.

Her trainer, Dallas Stewart, and Willis, Terry and Leon Horton own the filly by Lemon Drop Kid. Willis is the managing partner of the Horton trio; Leon is his brother and Terry is his nephew.

"We've been established for quite a while," said Willis Horton from his home in Arkansas. "We've had horses with (trainers) Lukas, Pletcher, and Nafzger. Been in the business for about 35 years.

"I'm retired now. I was in the home building business for about 20 years. I was involved in politics, too, as a county judge," he continued. "I've always loved horses. I started when I was young with cheap horses and then finally got into it in a bigger way, with Horton Stable. We owned Partners Hero; he ran in the Breeders' Cup and won the Phoenix at Keeneland. He now stands in Maryland."

Willis Horton played a part in selecting Lemons Forever at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. "I liked her conformation and breeding, particularly the sire, but also the Argentine-bred mare, who was good on dirt, but also on turf."

Lemon Drop Kid was a multiple stakes winner, including the 1999 Belmont Stakes.

MISS NORMAN - The Artax filly was out on the track for a jog Tuesday morning, her first outing since she breezed seven furlongs in 1:29.80 on Saturday morning.

With owner Greg Norman and trainer Karin Long looking on, Miss Norman went out at 9:15 a.m. and jogged once around the oval beside a pony.

Norman was awaiting the draw to see what their strategy would be Friday.

"Her post position will be critical," the owner said. "But no matter where she draws, I think she'll be among the leaders from the start." Miss Norman drew post position one.

New York-based rider Pablo Morales was named to ride Miss Norman.

QUIET KIM - The daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Real Quiet galloped a mile and a half around the sloppy oval Tuesday morning under exercise rider Gerardo Morales.

Morales said trainer Bob Hess was due later Tuesday to supervise the filly's final preparations for the Oaks. Kent Desormeaux was named to ride Quiet Kim.

The filly, owned by Chris Houchins, had her final Oaks drill here last Friday when she breezed six furlongs in 1:12.80 under Morales.

Quiet Kim was second in the Santa Anita Oaks in March, earning enough graded stakes money to make the field, and finished sixth in the Fantasy Stakes last out. She broke her maiden in February at Santa Anita.

RED CHERRIES SPIN - Naveed Chowhan's freshly acquired Red Cherries Spin galloped at Churchill Downs after the break on Tuesday morning while her trainer, Bernie Flint, was poring over past performances and contemplating whether or not to enter his new charge in the Kentucky Oaks.

Chowhan, an oncologist in Indiana, just claimed the roan filly for $75,000 at Keeneland on April 15. Red Cherries Spin was not nominated to the Oaks, so Chowhan will have to pay a $25,000 supplemental fee to run.

"It's a grade one dance," said Flint while mulling the options this morning, "and, like the Derby, it will have the best horses in the country. Personally, I didn't think we'd get in because of the number of horses that are eligible to participate."

By late morning, Flint made the decision to enter - and Chowhan left the decision-making to the trainer. Is it a gamble for a claimer who has never raced farther than six furlongs?

"That's the kicker - her name, Red Cherries Spin. This filly goes to a guy who has enough money to pay for her and the supplement. I've had her for a grand total of 20 days from the day she raced. Her pedigree says long and grass, but she went against that already," he said, citing her nine-length romp going six and half furlongs last out.

Corey Nakatani will ride Red Cherries Spin for the first time on Friday.

TOP NOTCH LADY - The Mark Casse-trained 3-year old filly walked Tuesday morning, which had been planned as a day off without the influence of the rainy weather and sloppy track. Stablemate and Kentucky Derby hopeful Seaside Retreat also walked Tuesday morning.

"Mark had planned for both horses to walk today," said assistant trainer Mike Anderson.

Patrick Husbands will be aboard the Grade III Bourbonette Breeders' Cup Stakes winner in Friday's Kentucky Oaks.

WAIT A WHILE - The gray filly owned by Arindel Farm stretched her legs early on a sloppy racetrack Tuesday morning as thunder, lightning and rain started out the day at Churchill Downs.

The daughter of Maria's Mon had regular exercise pal Frederick Buscialle up for a one-mile tour of the oval and is scheduled for a schooling session in the paddock during the races Tuesday afternoon.

Wait a While has raced seven times and finished in the top three on six of those occasions, including a second-place finish in Keeneland's Ashland Stakes April 8 in her most recent excursion. The Kentucky-bred miss, who'll be handled for the first time by Garrett Gomez in the $500,000 Oaks, had gate problems in the Ashland and trainer Todd Pletcher has taken steps to try to eliminate any future problems.

"She was a bad girl at the gate and we're going to try to fix that," Pletcher noted. "When she runs Friday, we'll blindfold her coming to the gate and then load her first."

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