Oaks Updates

        Eclipse Award-winning filly Dreaming of Anna all but cemented her Kentucky Oaks credentials Saturday when she drilled a bullet five furlongs in :58.60, fastest of 47 workouts at the distance. Trainer Wayne Catalano said that owner Frank Calabrese has veto power, but that his recommendation will be for the Oaks, instead of the grassy Edgewood Stakes.

AUTOBAHN GIRL/SILVER KNOCKERS - Autobahn Girl breezed five furlongs in 1:01.60 Saturday morning following the break at Churchill Downs. Jockey Joe Johnson, subbing for regular rider Eddie Castro, was aboard the Live Oak Plantation's homebred filly.

 "Joe Johnson did me a favor," said trainer Nick Zito, noting that Castro will ride Autobahn Girl in the Kentucky Oaks (GI) "It was a good work. She's a good filly. She always acted like she was one of the better 3-year olds. She's very steady. She fits with these fillies."

Zito reported that it was highly unlikely that Silver Knockers would run in the Oaks.

 "Unless something happens and the field gets small, it looks like we'll pass on the Oaks with her," Zito said. "She didn't have any experience as a 2-year-old, so it's probably the best thing for her."

Silver Knockers, who had worked a half-mile in :48.20 on Friday, walked under tack on Saturday.

CASH INCLUDED - Cash Included worked six furlongs in 1:14.20 under jockey Corey Nakatani Saturday morning after the renovation break at Churchill Downs. The Craig Dollase-trained filly was equipped with blinkers for the work and will run in the Kentucky Oaks (GI) with the new equipment.

 "We wanted to try and slow her down early. She went nice and easy and kicked in through the stretch," said Wally Dollase, who has been overseeing the daily training of Cash Included at Churchill for his son.

Dollase said he thought the "cheater blinkers" should help J. Paul Reddam's filly on Oaks Day.

 "They help her concentrate in the race instead of paying attention to the other horses, which the jockey says she does," Dollase said.

COTTON BLOSSOM/OCTAVE/RAGS TO RICHES - With next Friday's 133^rd edition of the Kentucky Oaks up front on their radar, a pair of 3-year-old lassies out of the Todd Pletcher barn did some serious leg stretching Saturday morning at Keeneland on a cloudy and crisp morning.

Cotton Blossom, a tall and dark daughter of Broken Vow, and Octave, a well-made gray by Unbridled's Song, both turned in five-panel drills on the Polytrack strip that pleased their trainer.

Cotton Blossom, with exercise rider Valerie Buck attached, came out with the trainer's 7:30 set (which included Kentucky Derby gallopers Any Given Saturday and Circular Quay) and teamed up with the colt Twilight Meteor for the work. After backtracking, the twosome jogged around the clubhouse turn and leveled off past the six-furlong marker to go by the five-eighths in full stride. Cotton Blossom was outside her male rival and right at his flank for the first quarter mile of the drill, but then she upped the tempo. The filly kicked it into another gear around the turn and began to put distance between herself and her 3-year-old stablemate heading for home, finishing with a final clocking of 1:00 and a "win margin" of about three lengths. It was the 13th-fastest of 33 works at the distance.  The track's clockers caught her going out the six furlongs in 1:13.

 "She worked really well," Pletcher noted. "Her workmate didn't help her much. She did it all on her own."

Cotton Blossom will have Edgar Prado aboard when she goes postward in the Grade I, $500,000 Kentucky Oaks.

Octave was next up on deck for the Pletcher crew and she went trackside with exercise rider Pierre Goday up in the stable's 8:15 set (which included Kentucky Derby-worker Cowtown Cat). Octave, down on the inside, teamed up with Mini Sermon, a recent maiden winner at Keeneland. The pair broke off at the five-eighths and went together for most of the drill, with "Mini" edging out on her rival through the lane, but Octave coming back near the wire to turn it into a close photo

The clockers gave Octave a final time of :59.20 with an "out" clocking of 1:11 3/5.  The move was the sixth-fastest of 33 at the distance.

 "I thought it was a good work for her," Pletcher said.

The stretch-running Octave will be handled by John Velazquez in the Oaks.

Earlier in the morning, the likely Kentucky Oaks favorite Rags to Riches took her exercise with the stable's first set at 6 a.m., galloping a mile and a quarter under exercise rider Loren Robson. The A.P. Indy filly will put in her final major preparations for the prestigious feature with a drill Sunday morning at Keeneland.

Garrett Gomez rides Rags to Riches.

DAWN AFTER DAWN - Dawn and Ike Thrash's Dawn After Dawn made her first appearance on the main track at Churchill Downs, galloping a mile and a half after the renovation break with exercise rider Bill Wilson up.

Dawn After Dawn vanned to Churchill Downs Friday from the Trackside Training Center. Trainer Wesley Hawley plans to work Dawn After Dawn after the renovation break Sunday.

Robby Albarado has the riding assignment in the Oaks.

DREAMING OF ANNA - Eclipse Award-winning filly Dreaming of Anna all but cemented her Kentucky Oaks credentials Saturday when she drilled a bullet five furlongs in :58.60, fastest of 47 workouts at the distance. Trainer Wayne Catalano said that owner Frank Calabrese has veto power, but that his recommendation will be for the Oaks, instead of the grassy Edgewood Stakes.

Catalano used Saturday's move as his barometer, saying just prior to walking her to the track, "It's the Oaks or the grass race - that's what we're here to find out today. That's been our plan all along."

The trainer beamed following the workout, in which the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner was full of herself, galloping out six furlongs in 1:11.60 and giving rider Shaun Bridgmohan a handful to pull up.

"Wayne's instructions were to let her run down the lane and then gallop out an extra eighth of a mile," said Bridgmohan, the stable's go-to rider in Chicago. "She galloped out very strong. She was more relaxed today than when I worked her at Keeneland last time."

When asked if she was an Oaks filly, Bridgmohan smiled and said, "Absolutely."

Catalano echoed those sentiments, saying, "The jock's happy afterwards. That's the main thing.

"I was curious about the track this morning," Catalano said. "It was loose and deep - drying out - not like the wet, hard track that I galloped her over yesterday. Obviously, she loved it."

Catalano has been galloping Dreaming of Anna himself every morning the past month and deferring to Bridgmohan for the works. Regular rider Rene Douglas will have the mount for her next start, which now looks almost assuredly to come in the Oaks.

"We trained her in the same style as we did last year (before winning the Juvenile Fillies)," Catalano said. "We had her at Keeneland and then brought her here for her last breeze. I figured: ‘It worked before, why can't it work again?' "

Dreaming of Anna will walk the shedrow Sunday and return for a light jog on Monday.

HIGH AGAIN - Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott was on hand Saturday at Churchill Downs after the conclusion of the Keeneland meeting, and hand-walked his Oaks contender to the racetrack for a "once around" gallop of one mile.

Exercise rider Keith Allen was aboard the Zayat Stables charge, winner of Gulfstream Park's Bonnie Miss (GII). Mott said High Again will have her final major Kentucky Oaks workout on Monday, weather permitting.

Cornelio Velasquez will ride in the Oaks.

HIGH HEELS - Anita Ebert's High Heels had her final tuneup for the Kentucky Oaks by working five furlongs in 1:00.40 under jockey Joe Johnson over a track labeled as "fast" before the renovation break Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. The move was the seventh-fastest of 47 at the distance.

 "She did it pretty easy; looks like 12s (seconds) all the way," trainer Gary Hartlage said. "I had her galloping out six furlongs in 1:13 and 3 and the seven-eighths in 1:27.

Plans for the coming week include a paddock schooling session Sunday afternoon as well as a couple of trips in the morning and a trip to the starting gate likely on Wednesday.

 "As long as she comes out of this work good, we are ready to go," Hartlage said.

MISTICAL PLAN - Trainer Doug O'Neill grazed Mistical Plan outside his Keeneland barn Saturday morning, a day after she worked six furlongs. She was handwalked in the ring adjoining O'Neill's barn as part of a relaxing morning.

Mistical Plan and the other O'Neill horses, including Kentucky Derby candidates Cobalt Blue, Great Hunter and Liquidity, were doing "fantastic" on Saturday morning, the trainer said. The horses are scheduled to jog at Keeneland on Sunday morning and move to Barn 28 at Churchill Downs on Sunday afternoon.

SEALY HILL - Working in company with a horse from the barn of Dale Romans, the Melnyk Racing Stables' Sealy Hill worked five furlongs in 1:01.20 after the renovation break with Julia Brimo in the saddle. The move was the 15th-best of 47 at the distance over a track labeled "fast."

 "The work was quite nice. Julia was pleased with her and she said she was doing it real easy," trainer Mark Casse said.

Sealy Hill worked in blinkers and will wear them in the Oaks, where she will be ridden by Patrick Husbands.

Casse said the Point Given filly would have a paddock schooling session this afternoon, walk in the morning and then gallop up to Friday's Oaks. Casse headed for his home base at Woodbine after the work and is scheduled to return to Louisville on Wednesday.

Sealy Hill comes into the Oaks off a victory in the Bourbonette Breeders' Cup (GIII) on March 24 in her first start in two months. There were no works that showed up on her past performance line between starts.

"She was at our training center in Ocala (Fla.) and there are no published works," Casse said. "The only published works are on Saturday and I didn't work on Saturdays. She had plenty of works and didn't miss a beat."

SWIFT TEMPER - Mark Stanley's Swift Temper turned in her final Kentucky Oaks tuneup by working a half-mile in :47.80 under exercise rider Mario Covento after the renovation break Saturday at Churchill Downs. The move was the fourth-fastest of 52 at the distance over a track labeled as "fast."

 "I actually got her going five-eighths in 1:00 and 4," trainer Bobby Barnett said. "She went very well and I was very satisfied. She galloped out good and strong and everything went well."

Swift Temper had a paddock schooling session Friday and is scheduled to stand in the gate Monday when she returns to the track.

Julien Leparoux has the Oaks riding assignment.

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