Oaks Updates

Dawn After Dawn's trainer Wesley Hawley said, "The one hole is perfect, I'm fine with it.  She's got a good mind.  She'll break on top and come back to the rider (jockey Robby Albarado).  She's push-button.  I like the way she's coming into it." 

AUTOBAHN GIRL - Live Oak Plantation's Autobahn Girl was schooled in the starting gate, where she stood patiently under exercise rider Heather Stark, before galloping a mile and a half Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs.

 

"She doing very, very good," said Stark, also an assistant to trainer Nick Zito. "I think she'll give us a good race."

 

Eddie Castro has the mount on the daughter of A.P. Indy, who'll be making her first start in a graded stakes in Friday's Kentucky Oaks (GI).

 

 

CASH INCLUDED - Wally Dollase is paying attention to every detail while preparing Cash Included for a start in Friday's Kentucky Oaks (GI). Before galloping a mile and a quarter at Churchill Downs Wednesday morning, Cash Included was schooled in the paddock for the second day in a row.

The Churchill-based Dollase, who has been deputized by his son, Craig, to train the Oak Leaf Breeders' Cup (GI) winner for the Oaks, planned to bring Cash Included back to the paddock Wednesday afternoon after the sixth race.

 

"I just want her to get used to the paddock in the afternoon, although it won't be anything like it will be Friday," said Dollase.

 

Corey Nakatani will ride Cash Included in the Oaks.

 

 

COTTON BLOSSOM/OCTAVE/RAGS TO RICHES - Trainer Todd Pletcher's bevy of Oaks beauties went trackside Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs for their first bit of local leg stretching since arriving from their Keeneland training base the previous afternoon.

 

Pletcher, who won the Kentucky Oaks with subsequent champion Ashado in 2004, had Octave and Rags to Riches in his 7:30 set, then brought out Cotton Blossom for her activity at 8.

 

With their regular exercise riders up, the trio all galloped a mile and one-quarter, which is an eighth of a mile farther than they'll have to travel in Friday's $500,000 Oaks.

 

Valerie Buck handled Cotton Blossom, the Florida Oaks winner; Pierre Goday was up on the gray Octave, who has finished second in four straight graded stakes, and Loren Robson guided Rags to Riches, the Santa Anita Oaks heroine who is the 5-2 morning line favorite for the Grade I Kentucky Oaks.

 

Notably, all three of the Pletcher fillies have previous race experience at Churchill.

 

The trainer said his Oaks fillies would school in the paddock with the horses for today's third race.

 

 

DAWN AFTER DAWN - Ike and Dawn Thrash's Dawn After Dawn galloped a mile and a half at Churchill Downs on Wednesday morning and schooled in the starting gate under exercise rider Bill Wilson.

The Florida-bred daughter of Successful Appeal drew post position number one in the Kentucky Oaks and was listed at 30-to-1 odds on the morning line.  She has been a longshot in each of her past four races.

Trainer Wesley Hawley said, "The one hole is perfect, I'm fine with it.  She's got a good mind.  She'll break on top and come back to the rider (jockey Robby Albarado).  She's push-button.  I like the way she's coming into it."

He said of this morning's trip to the track, "She did everything right.  She'll gallop up to the race, but we'll probably walk her Friday morning and avoid all the excitement."

 

 

DREAMING OF ANNA - Trainer Wayne Catalano took his normal perch atop Dreaming of Anna Wednesday morning as the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner galloped two miles and schooled in the paddock.

As for drawing post seven of 14 in Friday's Oaks, Catalano responded, "Perfect. I couldn't have been happier with any other spot."

With thunderstorms part of the Oaks Day weather forecast, an off track would provide a new challenge for the speedy Dreaming of Anna, who has never raced over anything but fast main tracks and firm turf courses. When asked how she might handle an off track, Catalano dead-panned, "How do I know? I don't even want to think about it."

Meanwhile, Dreaming of Anna's full brother, Lewis Michael, who is stabled alongside her this week at the Downs, could reappear next in Arlington's May 26 Hanshin Cup (GIII). "We want to get a graded stakes win for him so he can stand stud. A graded winner and full-brother to a champion - that's the goal."

Rene Douglas will ride "Anna" Friday.

 

 

GRACE HAPPENS - Briland Farm's homebred galloped 1 3/8 miles Wednesday morning for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. The longshot, eleventh-hour Oaks entrant could give Lukas a record-padding fifth Kentucky Oaks victory, but certainly would be his most surprising.

Lukas has tallied the 1982, 1984, 1989 and 1990 Oaks editions, the most recent of which was with Seaside Attraction.

Grace Happens owns a single victory from seven starts, breaking her maiden on turf at Churchill on the day after last fall's Breeders' Cup. She was third in the Honeybee at Oaklawn in March and most recently sixth of eight in the Ashland (GI) at Keeneland. Willie Martinez has the Oaks mount.

 

 

HIGH AGAIN - Zayat Stable's Bonnie Miss (GII) winner galloped "once around" this morning as Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was forced to make the best of a bad draw for Friday's headliner. The daughter of High Yield landed the far outside 14 hole for the      1 1/8-mile Oaks.

"Honestly, my first reaction was (expletive)," Mott said with an exasperated grin.

"I've got a rider (Cornelio Velasquez) who tries to save ground and not one who likes to sit out in the middle of the racetrack. You rarely see him seven-wide."

Velasquez certainly has been a perfect fit for High Again, piloting her to all three of her career victories. Following Monday's half-mile breeze in a quick :47.80, High Again's Oaks tale appears to be at the mercy of the trip.

"I couldn't be happier with the filly; she's progressing really nicely," Mott said.

 

 

HIGH HEELS - Anita Ebert's High Heels visited the paddock and galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break with exercise rider Jimmy Connolly up.

 

Listed at 6-1 on the morning line, High Heels will break from post position 3 in the 14-horse Kentucky Oaks field with Joe Johnson in the saddle.

 

Trainer Gary Hartlage said he knew he had something on his hands early on with High Heels.

 

"The first day I had her I could tell," Hartlage said. "The way she moved, the way she hit the ground. Anita just bought a 2-year-old at Keeneland that is the same way. You just know. Judge T C was one. I have only had seven or eight like that."

 

 

MISTICAL PLAN - One of two fillies in the Kentucky Oaks for owner J. Paul Reddam, Mistical Plan drew post 13 in the field of 14 for Friday's race. David Flores, who rode the Game Plan filly to win the Sunshine Millions Oaks at Santa Anita in January, will again be aboard in the Oaks.

"It's not ideal," said trainer Doug O'Neill about the outside post position. "She's got a lot of natural speed so we'll let her run away from there and play it by ear. David had success riding her before. He has confidence in her and knows her."

On Wednesday morning, Mistical Plan was the final O'Neill 3-year-old to reach the racetrack. With exercise Tony Romero aboard, she schooled in the paddock, jogged three-quarters of a mile and galloped 1 ½ miles.

Friday afternoon will be busy for the O'Neill barn with the appearance of several older runners on the Oaks undercard. Roi Charmant will start in the Aegon Turf Sprint (GIII), and Whatsthescript (Ire) will race in the Crown Royal American Turf (GIII). Both horses joined Mistical Plan and Kentucky Derby candidates Great Hunter and Liquidity among the O'Neill runners who were stabled at Keeneland for the past month before they shipped to Churchill Downs.

Reddam also owns Oaks filly Cash Included, who is trained by Craig Dollase.

 

 

SEALY HILL - The Melnyk Racing Stables' Sealy Hill completed her morning activity Wednesday before the renovation break by galloping a mile and a half under Julia Brimo.

 

Trainer by Mark Casse, Sealy Hill is listed at 20-1 on the morning line for the Oaks and will break from post position 12 under Patrick Husbands, who has ridden the  Point Given filly four times, three resulting in victories.

 

"I like the post because she runs better outside," said Norman Casse, who is manning the fort until his father returns to Louisville from his home base at Woodbine. "Plus she will be just outside of Rags to Riches (the 5-2 morning line favorite) and she will have something to run at."

 

Casse said the barn has always been high on Sealy Hill.

 

"The first time she ran when she was third, Dad was talking her up," Casse said. "Then when she broke her maiden by more than 7 lengths and won a stake at Woodbine by more than 8 (lengths) we thought that this (the Oaks) might be where she would end up."

 

SWIFT TEMPER - Mark Stanley's Swift Temper followed her normal routine as the first horse out of trainer Bobby Barnett's barn Wednesday morning, galloping a mile and five-eighths under exercise rider Mario Covento.

 

Listed as a 50-1 chance on the morning line, Swift Temper will exit from post position 8 in the Oaks under Julien Leparoux.

 

Along with High Heels, Swift Temper has the most starts of the Oaks entrants with 10. Swift Temper's starts have come at eight tracks, with one appearance at Churchill Downs.

 

"She shipped to her last two races (at Gulfstream Park and Oaklawn Park) and I don't know if it hurt us, but it probably didn't help us," Barnett said. "She didn't run well here last fall. It was a one-turn mile and she was on the lead and that kind of surprised us. We didn't expect that and I don't think she will do that this time."

 

Swift Temper has split the field with fourth-place finishes at long odds in her past two starts, both Grade II events.

 

At Gulfstream (in the Bonnie Miss), Mark Guidry rode her and she was making a move between horses and had to check and then he got her going again," Barnett said. "I don't know how much that cost us. Then in the Fantasy, she had to wait after making a move on the rail and then swung to the outside.

 

"This is a 14-horse field, and I know it is tough, but maybe we can get lucky and get a clean trip."

 

 

TOUGH TIZ'S SIS - The Bob Baffert-trained daughter of two-time Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow was airborne Wednesday en route to Barn 33 at Churchill Downs for her Friday date in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks.

 

Baffert, the white-haired wonder who won the Oaks in 1999 with subsequent champion Silverbulletday, also was high in the skies heading to Louisville on Wednesday.

           

Tough Tiz's Sis, the winner of the Win Star Oaks at Sunland Park in March, will have the saddle services of Victor Espinoza for the Oaks. The bay filly will break from post 9 in the 14-horse line up and is listed at 10-1 on the morning line.

<< Back to News