Kentucky Oaks Notes (April 27, 2008)

It was “final work” morning for trainer Larry Jones’ high-line fillies, and it turned out to be quite lively. Both drilled sharply under rider Gabriel Saez with final times that turned heads – Eight Belles covering five furlongs in :58.20 and Proud Spell going the same distance in :58.40.

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EIGHT BELLES ZIPS FIVE-EIGHTHS IN :58.20

PROUD SPELL TURNS IN SHARP FIVE FURLONG WORK

ABSOLUTELY CINDY ENTERS OAKS PICTURE

A TO THE CROFT – Koolmen Racing Stable’s A to the Croft walked the shedrow at trainer Ken McPeek’s barn Sunday morning, a day after working five furlongs in 1:00.20 in the mud.

Lars Beedelamotte, assistant to McPeek, reported the Menifee filly came out of the work fine and would return to the track in the morning.

Calvin Borel has the Oaks riding assignment.

ABSOLUTELY CINDY – A new shooter entered the picture for the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks (GI) to be run Friday when owner-trainer-breeder Keith Kinmon sent Absolutely Cindy for a three-furlong drill Sunday morning at Churchill Downs.

With Brian Hernandez aboard, Absolutely Cindy worked in :37 flat after the renovation break. Fractions on the move, which was the 10th fastest of 23 at the distance over a “fast” track, were :12.60, :25 and out a half-mile in :49.60.

Kinmon had been toying with the idea of running Absolutely Cindy in the $150,000 Edgewood, a mile and a sixteenth turf event on Friday, but after the work the decision was made to go in the Oaks.

“That was what we were looking for,” Kinmon said. “We trained over it for a few days and today we let her run down the lane to make sure she is going to handle it. We are tickled to death with what she did.”

Except for a start in the Silverbulletday (GIII) at Fair Grounds in February, Absolutely Cindy has raced exclusively on synthetic surfaces or the grass. She beat the boys in the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park in March and won the Caressing over the turf at Churchill Downs last fall.

“Everybody thinks she is a Polytrack specialist,” Kinmon said. “I’ve always said that she would like this dirt track because her mother (Ms. Boucheron) loved this surface.”

Absolutely Cindy finished behind four of her likely Oaks rivals in the Ashland Stakes (GI) on April 5 and then finished seventh 11 days later in the Appalachian (GIII) on the turf at Keeneland.

“We got concerned that the Oaks might overfill and even though we had a lot of money, we didn’t have any graded money,” Kinmon said of the decision to run in the Appalachian. “We kind of panicked a little bit there, but she didn’t get to run too much in the Appalachian and came out of it good so we decided to give it a shot.”

Absolutely Cindy, who is based at Turfway Park, came to Churchill Downs on Thursday.

“The track was fast Friday and muddy yesterday and the boy that gets on her, Jeremy Roetting, called me and said not to worry if it rains Friday because she loved the mud,” Kinmon said.

Hernandez most likely will have the mount in the Oaks. Absolutely Cindy will walk in the morning and then have light gallops the rest of the week with Roetting up.

AWESOME CHIC – With exercise rider Ariel Carrasquillo up and trainer Rafael Ramos watching, Aurora Springs Stable’s Awesome Chic jogged around to the three-eighths pole and then galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break at Churchill Downs.

“She did it nice and easy again this morning,” Carrasquillo said.

Robby Albarado, who is seeking his first Kentucky Oaks victory, has the mount.

BSHARPSONATA – Cloverleaf Farm’s Bsharpsonata, who has won stakes on dirt, mud and grass, galloped a strong two miles before the renovation break under Scott Miller.

Miller began getting on Bsharpsonata in early January at Gulfstream Park after the Pulpit filly won the Tropical Park Oaks on grass. At Gulfstream, Bsharpsonata won the Forward Gal (GII) and the Davona Dale (GII) before finishing second in the Ashland (GI) over Keeneland’s Polytrack surface.

After nearly three weeks at Churchill Downs, Miller has come to one solid conclusion: “She gets over this track better than she did at Gulfstream and Keeneland,” Miller said.

Trainer Tim Salzman is scheduled to arrive in Louisville from his Maryland base on Wednesday. Eric Camacho, who has ridden Bsharpsonata to five of her six victories, has the Oaks mount.

COUNTRY STAR – Stonerside Stable’s double Grade I winner had an easy day of it Sunday, merely walking the shedrow at her Keeneland barn for trainer Robert Frankel after working five furlongs in 1:00.60 on the Polytrack the day before.

“She’s doing fine,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “She’s on schedule to ship over (to Churchill Downs) early Thursday.”

Rafael Bejarano, the leading rider at the recently concluded Santa Anita meeting, will handle the daughter of Empire Maker in the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks Friday.

GOLDEN DOC A – The compact daughter of the Nureyev stallion Unusual Heat galloped a mile and one half under exercise rider Stephen O’Callaghan Sunday morning as she moves forward toward her date in Friday’s Grade I Kentucky Oaks.

The chestnut miss, who with Absolutely Cindy will be the most-seasoned runner in the Oaks lineup with a dozen starts already under her belt, sported a glistening coat and a “can do” attitude toward her exercise on a clear and crisp Louisville morning. Assistant trainer Geoff Dapp gave the leg-stretching a thumbs up.

Hall of Fame rider Kent Desormeaux has the call on the California-bred filly for owner Ron McCauley and trainer Barry Abrams in the nine-furlong headliner.

EIGHT BELLES/PROUD SPELL– It was “final work” morning for trainer Larry Jones’ high-line fillies, and it turned out to be quite lively.

Both drilled sharply under rider Gabriel Saez with final times that turned heads – Eight Belles covering five furlongs in :58.20 and Proud Spell going the same distance in :58.40.

Jones, riding his huge stable pony Pal alongside the workers, first led Proud Spell out of the six-furlong gap and on to the main track to be the first on track following the mid-morning renovation at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. After a quick backtrack, Jones gave his charge a running start at the five-furlong pole, then cut her loose under the Panamanian Saez for splits that registered :11.40, :22.60, :34.40 and :46.40. The pair finished up with a good gallop-out in 1:12.80.

Jones quickly escorted the bay filly back to Barn 43 and – after Saez dismounted one lassie and climbed aboard the other – he brought the tall, gray Eight Belles to the racetrack for a similar scenario.

The trainer and the pony again got the work filly a head start on the five-eighths pole and the daughter of Unbridled’s Song went about her business with relish. Clipping off fractions of :11.40, :22.60, :34.20 and :45.80, she went by the wire with the second-fastest five-furlong time of the morning, galloping out an additional panel in 1:12 and yet one more after that in 1:25.40.

Only the Kentucky Derby colt Colonel John went quicker than Eight Belles among the 62 runners who rang up five furlongs Sunday. The colt’s time was a rapid :57.80, but the filly – who is likely to see him again in the Derby starting gate next Saturday – wasn’t far behind.

“Proud Spell’s work was exactly what I wanted,” noted Jones after the exercises. “I told Gabriel I wanted a good work in her, something like she did prior to the Breeders’ Cup (in which she finished second). She’s had a couple of slow works over on the ‘Poly’ at Keeneland and she needed this. It was good for her.

“Eight Belles probably went a little quicker than she needed, but it’s fine. She was all run out there today and she’s quite capable of turning in those kind of works.”

Saez, a 20-year-old who has been riding in this country since 2006 after making his mark as his native country’s top apprentice the previous year, liked both moves.

“Proud Spell worked well,” he said. “When I worked her over at Keeneland, I had to push on her to get her to go. But here she just went right on with it.

“The other filly (Eight Belles) felt good. She worked well, very well.”

Saez is in line to ride both fillies next out. He’s been the only rider to handle Proud Spell and former Kentucky governor Brereton Jones’ homebred daughter of Proud Citizen is now bound for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks. On Saturday, the rider will go back aboard Eight Belles when she takes on 19 males in the 134th Kentucky Derby. He has ridden the Fox Hill Farms’ filly four times before, winning on two of those occasions.

“He’s a talented rider and he really doesn’t know how good he is,” said Larry Jones. “He’s a great kid to work with and he fits these fillies well.”

HIGHEST CLASS – Briarwood Stable’s Highest Class, third in the March 29 Bonnie Miss (GII) in her most recent start, galloped a mile and a half after the renovation break under Annie Finney.

Trainer Neil Howard has not totally closed the door on an Oaks bid, but said such a run remains highly doubtful. Entries for the Oaks will be taken Tuesday.

HONEST PURSUIT – Overbrook Farm’s Honest Pursuit galloped before the renovation break under Kenny Bourque.

No final decision has been made on whether Honest Pursuit, a maiden winner this month at Keeneland, will run in the Oaks.

LITTLE BELLE – For the second consecutive morning after her work on Friday, Ashland Stakes (G1) winner Little Belle walked the shedrow of her barn at Keeneland. Neal McLaughlin, who is the assistant to his brother, Kiaran, said the A.P. Indy filly would return to the track on Monday to gallop.

McLaughlin said Rajiv Maragh, who rode Little Belle in the Ashland to score the first Grade 1 victory of his career, would again be aboard the filly in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). Maragh, who is based in New York, has ridden Little Belle in her previous five races. An Oaks win would mark the team’s third consecutive victory.

PURE CLAN – “Another uneventful morning,” trainer Bob Holthus said after Pure Clan headed back to Barn 32 after completing a mile and a half gallop under regular morning partner Steve Schmelzel.

It was the Pure Prize filly’s first day back to the track after working five furlongs in 1:00.60 under Oaks rider Edgar Prado on Friday.