Oaks Updates

BALANCE - After spending some time standing in the chute watching the activity around her Thursday morning, the Santa Anita Oaks winner galloped once around the track under rider Erin Buttigieg.

Trainer David Hofmans scheduled another schooling trip to the paddock for the third race on Thursday. Hofmans said the Thunder Gulch filly owned by Amerman Racing Stables LLC showed she is becoming acclimated to Churchill Downs during her visit to the paddock Wednesday.

"She was just great. Perfect," Hofmans said. "She didn't get hot at all. Just right."

BUSHFIRE - Homewrecker Stable's Bushfire galloped at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning, much like she has done all week, well after the break around 9:15. There were a few anxious moments for her on-looking owners, Ron and Ricki Rashinski, as there was a loose horse on the track while Bushfire was completing her exercise. Fortunately, it was inconsequential.

Trainer Eddie Kenneally, who accompanied Bushfire to and from the track by pony, remarked after the training, "She's as good or even better than she's ever been. It could not be possible to be better. She can be aggressive when she gallops, but her exercise rider (Desi Farrell) knows how to switch her off. That's why I bring her out late … it's quieter. She is very competitive and wants to get strong with the rider."

Bushfire will again get the services of jockey Cornelio Velasquez, who guided her to victory in the Ashland Stakes. "It worked out well for us with the rider," said Kenneally. "It's good to stick with the same rider. He's an accomplished rider and he has confidence in her."

Bushfire has had four jockeys in six races. In the Ashland, her previous rider John Velazquez had opted to ride Wait a While, who finished second.

"She's a front-runner and will be close to the pace," said Kenneally. "We won't change her running style."

The Rashinskis are naturally excited about their filly running in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, but they'll also be rooting for two of their other horses who will be racing at Arlington Park the same day, although those races will be run later than the Oaks. Their horses are Celluiloid Hero and Dimple Pinch.

DIPLOMAT LADY - The daughter of Forestry jogged two miles Thursday morning as she completed her training for Friday's Oaks.

Trainer Chris Paasch said everything was a go for his filly's first try at nine furlongs.

"If she handles the track well, she'll be fine," Paasch said. "She should have no excuses.

"The question is can she go a mile and an eighth. I know there are a lot of naysayers out there, but I think she can. She's doing everything right, and she'll show up tomorrow."

Diplomat Lady has settled well at Churchill Downs and schooled well in the paddock in Wednesday. "She'll school again today," the trainer said. "She was perfect yesterday."

Diplomat Lady drew post 2 in the 14-horse Oaks field, which didn't thrill Paasch, but the trainer said jockey Alex Solis would try to rate her from that spot.

"People think she has to have the lead, but that's not the case," the trainer said. "She always breaks sharp, but she can settle into second or third and rate."

Diplomat Lady shipped from California 10 days before her victory in the Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland last out, and then went to Paasch's farm near Lexington before shipping to Churchill Downs.

Owners Charles and Karen Cono have been on hand at the barn every day to watch their filly gallop.

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

ERMINE - Ermine jogged at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning and will school in the paddock during the first race this afternoon. She will simply walk the shedrow Friday morning, the day of the Kentucky Oaks.

At 12-to-1 on the morning line, trainer Ronny Werner feels "there is less pressure being a longshot, but she's a favorite to me. I think she has an opportunity to do well."

Werner saddles a horse earlier on the card (second race). He oversees a stable of 20 here, another 16 at the Trackside Training Center and still 20 more at Arlington Park in Chicago.

While he admits he's busy running his business - "Life goes on in training … I'm getting horses ready for next week and trying to stay focused" - he concedes that the Oaks is really something special. "This is completely different. To date, this is the biggest race for me. This experience is amazing and I hope I have to get used to it."

EX CAELIS - Circle C Group Stables' Ex Caelis was on the track before the renovation break for a jog and light gallop under exercise rider Jesse Cirillo.

The D. Wayne Lukas trainee will break from post position six under Julien Leparoux in Friday's Oaks as she attempts to give the Hall of Fame conditioner his fifth Oaks victory.

Ex Caelis is one of three Oaks starters (the others are Top Notch Lady and Miss Norman) to have only one start in 2006 and that is the main concern for Lukas.

"She is coming in with only the one out," Lukas said of Ex Caelis' fourth-place finish in the Fantasy at Oaklawn Park on April 14. "That is going to be a part of it coming into a race this big."

Ex Caelis, a daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus who had a chip removed from an ankle after a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, is one of four Oaks starters to have been sired by a Kentucky Derby winner. The others are Balance (Thunder Gulch), plus Quiet Kim and Wonder Lady Anne L, daughters of Real Quiet.

The last Oaks winner to be sired by a Derby winner was Flute, a daughter of Seattle Slew, in 2001.

ITTY BITTY PRETTY - Trainer Paul McGee reported Itty Bitty Pretty to be ready to run in Friday's Kentucky Oaks after her 1-1/2-mile gallop Thursday morning.

McGee has been supervising the training of the Santa Ysabel Stakes winner this week for California-based trainer Doug O'Neill. The daughter of El Corredor is looking to rebound from a distant fourth-place finish behind Bushfire in the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland.

Patrick Valenzuela will ride Itty Bitty Pretty.

LAST ROMANCE/WONDER LADY ANNE L - Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. watched his two Kentucky Oaks fillies walk the shedrow Thursday morning. They each worked three furlongs Wednesday morning.

Dutrow, who is based in New York, arrived in Louisville Wednesday evening. He said both fillies look good to him.

"We're ready," he said.

Wonder Lady Anne L, owned by IEAH Stables and Joseph Pulmeri, has had two starts this year, both at Gulfstream Park. She was third in the Grade II Davona Dale and second in the Grade II Bonnie Miss.

"She's coming to the race good," Dutrow said. "She's been running with good horses, different tracks. If she gets a good trip and she likes the track, I'm sure she'll run good."

Last Romance won the ungraded Wayward Lass at Aqueduct on March 24.

"It seems like "Wonder Lady" is more solid; she's been running with better, but the other filly is good too," Dutrow said. "She ran a very big race last time.

"I can't wait to watch both of them run. They both are coming into the race very, very good, as far as I can see."

Dutrow's fillies will school in the paddock during the fourth race Thursday afternoon.

LEMONS FOREVER - Lemons Forever galloped a half-mile Thursday morning at Churchill Downs under exercise rider Pedro Velez. She schooled in the paddock Wednesday, which "went well," according to co-owner/trainer Dallas Stewart.

Jockey Mark Guidry will ride Lemons Forever for the first time in the Kentucky Oaks. They will break from the far outside post number 14.

Stewart, who maintains a full stable at Churchill Downs and will saddle two other horses on Friday, said of his barn crew, "Everybody's pumped up. This race (the Oaks) takes precedence."

MISS NORMAN - With exercise rider Angel Rangel aboard, the daughter of Artax stood in the starting gate, galloped to the wire, and then visited the paddock with a pony Thursday morning.

"She's doing great," said owner Greg Norman. "She'll just shedrow tomorrow morning, and then it's time to race." Norman made some changes in the filly's equipment for the Oaks, including a new jockey (Pablo Morales), a change from French cup blinkers to semi-cup blinkers, and a change from a ring bit to a D-bit.

Norman and trainer Karin Long also have some new instructions for their jockey.

Since Miss Norman has reacted badly to being hit with the whip in past races, Morales will carry a stick on Friday, but will be instructed to use it only if absolutely necessary.

Miss Norman drew the rail post for Friday's Oaks, and will have to make use of her speed right from the gate.

Miss Norman was 41-1 when second after bolting in the Fantasy last out, and she was 53-1 when she was second in the Matron at Belmont last year. She has been 20-1 or more in all her stakes starts, except when she broke her maiden at Del Mar last summer in her lone victory, paying $4 to win. She led start to finish in that event.

QUIET KIM - The daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Real Quiet completed her Oaks preparations Thursday morning.

Quiet Kim galloped once around the oval, and then stood in the gate with exercise rider Gerardo Morales aboard.

The filly coughed during Wednesday's exercise, but trainer Bob Hess said it was only some mucous in a guttural pouch and easily cleared up.

"This morning she just had a wisp of a cough," Hess said. "Like she was clearing her throat. She's much better today, and should have no problem tomorrow."

Quiet Kim, who drew post 3 for the Oaks, and will have Kent Desormeaux aboard. She has shown the ability to sit off a good pace and come running at the end.

"If she handles the track," Hess said, "she'll finish one, two, three. If she doesn't, we'll know by the half-mile pole."

Owners Chris and Kim Houchin bought the filly last year at a 2-year-old sale in April as they entered the racing game for the first time. A $75,000 purchase, Quiet Kim has earned $125,280 and cemented her value as a broodmare prospect with her second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks on March 12.

The filly's only victory came when she broke her maiden on Feb. 10, but she has finished second four times in her 10 career starts.

RED CHERRIES SPIN - Red Cherries Spin went for a two-mile gallop Thursday morning at Churchill Downs under exercise rider Georgia Jackson, who gave the "thumbs-up" sign later in the morning.

Said trainer Bernie Flint, "This is a tough game and you gotta have a little gamble in you. But it's up to the racing gods now."

With possibly a little help from jockey Corey Nakatani.

"It's going to be a tall order," said Nakatani, who also said that he has only ridden in the Oaks twice before. They were both winners. (Lite Light in 1991 and Pike Place Dancer 1996.)

"I'll talk to the boss (Flint), but I believe she'll be forwardly placed. She's a speed horse and I'll try to finesse her around there and steal it."

Nakatani also has a mount in the Kentucky Derby and added, "I've got a big shot on A.P. Warrior. He'll be a horse to watch, the way the race is going to set up. There's a lot of speed and we'll be in the second or third flight."

TOP NOTCH LADY - After Top Notch Lady returned to Barn 17 following a 1-1/2-mile gallop, trainer Mark Casse said that the only work left with his 3-year-old filly was to keep her happy until she goes to the gate for Friday's Kentucky Oaks.

"She's ready to go. No excuses," the Canadian-based trainer said. "All we have to do is to keep her in peppermints."

Casse expressed confidence that the daughter of Sultry Song is prepared to make the jump to Grade I company.

"I'm thinking that her last performance was better than she showed," said Casse, whose filly captured the Grade III Bourbonette at Turfway Park. "She had to race three and four wide and she also had a 4-1/2-month layoff before that race. I'd have to say she's better prepared for this race than she was for that one."

WAIT A WHILE - The gray daughter of Maria's Mon was out in trainer Todd Pletcher's first set Thursday morning and galloped a mile and a quarter under her regular exercise rider, Frederick Buscialle.

The Arindel Farm runner, who has won three of her seven starts and comes into the race off a second-place finish in the Grade I Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, thus completed her preparations for her go in the nine-furlong Kentucky Oaks Friday. Pletcher does not put his horses on the track the morning of a race, so the Kentucky-bred miss will next head trackside just prior to her 5:45 p.m. start in the $685,900 Oaks.

Garrett Gomez has the call on Wait a While from post No. 8 in the 14-horse field. The filly is listed as a co-second choice with Bushfire at 5-1 behind likely favorite Balance, who is 2-1 on the morning line.

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