Kentucky Oaks Notes (May 3, 2008)

The Brereton Jones’ homebred Kentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell came out of the race in fine order and trainer Larry Jones said, “She’s going to Fair Hill (Maryland). We leave on Monday."

TOP STORIES:

• • • • PROUD SPELL HEADED TO FAIR HILL
      • LITTLE BELLE RETURNING TO BELMONT PARK
      • PURE CLAN EYES CCA OAKS IN JULY

A TO THE CROFT – An allowance race at Churchill Downs appears to be in the future for Koolmen Racing Stable’s A to the Croft after her seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks “to get her confidence back,” said Billy Wright, barn foreman for trainer Ken McPeek on Saturday morning. Wright said the Menifee filly came out of the race in great shape “and there’s not a nick on her.”

“She ran well,” McPeek said Friday soon after the race. “Looked like she was in with a chance at the head of the lane and the winner just ran away from her. She handled the racetrack fine. She just faced a little bit better fillies than she’s used to.”

ABSOLUTELY CINDY – Owner-trainer-breeder Keith Kinmon was disappointed Saturday morning after Absolutely Cindy finished 10th in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks.

“I’m pretty far down,” Kinmon said. “But she came back good and will go back to Turfway (Park) in the morning. She has had two opportunities on the dirt now and run her two worst races, so she is going to the grass and staying there.”

Kinmon said Absolutely Cindy would get a little break and then be pointed for a possible run in the mile and one-eighth Regret (GIII) on June 14 at Churchill Downs.

AWESOME CHIC – Trainer Rafael Ramos reported that Aurora Springs Stable’s Awesome Chic, ninth of 10 in the Kentucky Oaks, will rest for about 10 days at a farm in Kentucky before shipping up to his base at Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts. Jose Acero of Aurora Springs is choosing which farm.

“She came out of the race good,” said Ramos on Saturday morning. “She bled a little (post-race scope) and the jockey (Robby Albarado) said she didn’t like the sloppy track.”

BSHARPSONATA – Cloverleaf Farm’s Bsharpsonata left Churchill Downs early Saturday morning to return to her home base in Maryland at Laurel Park. Trained by Tim Salzman, Bsharpsonata finished fifth in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks.

“She looked good this morning and was hollering for her feed,” Salzman said.
The Oaks was the fifth start of the year for Bsharpsonata and Salzman said the $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (GII) at Pimlico on May 16 was not under consideration.

“We are going to sit back and look for a couple of spots,” Salzman said.

COUNTRY STAR – Stonerside Stable’s Country Star was none the worse for wear following her sixth-place finish in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks on a sloppy racing strip at Churchill Downs, it was reported out of the Robert Frankel barn Saturday morning.

The Hall of Fame conditioner’s right-hand man, Ruben Loza, said the Empire Maker filly ate up Friday night and was fine Saturday morning at Barn 45 after being beaten a bit more than six lengths by Brereton Jones’ Proud Spell in the Grade I headliner.

“I don’t know what the plans are now,” Loza said. “That will be up to Bobby (Frankel).”

GOLDEN DOC A – Assistant trainer Geoff Dapp reported that all was well with Ron McCauley’s Kentucky Oaks’ fourth-place finisher Golden Doc A at Barn 43 on Saturday morning.

“I took Barry (trainer Barry Abrams) and his crew out to the airport (for a plane back to California) at quarter to six this morning,” Dapp noted. “The filly ate up last night and is doing great this morning. We’re really proud of her. She didn’t have the best of trips out there yesterday with the track being the way it was, but she ran great and was less than a length from finishing second behind the winner (Proud Spell).”

Dapp said Abrams told him to hang loose with the horse for a few days and then they’d finalize plans for her. She might be given some time off in Kentucky, or could be returned to California in the middle of next week for more racing.

ELUSIVE LADY– Trainer John Kimmel scratched Gold Mark Farm’s Elusive Lady from the Kentucky Oaks Friday afternoon as heavy rains began to turn the racetrack sloppy, saying the filly had shown she does not care for an off track. On Saturday, the Van Nistelrooy filly walked the shedrow in the morning and is scheduled to leave Churchill Downs for Keeneland, where she will work over the Polytrack on Sunday morning.

When asked about the filly’s next race, Kimmel said, “Either the Black-Eyed Susan or the Selene.”
The 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan (GII) is on May 16 at Pimlico. The Selene Stakes is a Canadian Grade III race at 1 1/16 miles over the Polytrack at Woodbine on May 18.

LITTLE BELLE – Moments after Darley Stable’s Little Belle finished second to Proud Spell in the Kentucky Oaks, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he was pleased with her performance.

“She handled it (the sloppy track) very well,” McLaughlin said. “She’s handled everything we’ve thrown at her, at Aqueduct (and) she’s won her last three. She tries hard every time as she did today. There was just one better. We’re happy; she ran well.”

On Saturday morning, Rajeev Lakshmanan, McLauglin’s barn foreman, reported that Little Belle was fine. The filly had spent the previous month training over the Polytrack at Keeneland, where she won the Ashland Stakes (GI). She had proven her ability to handle a sloppy track, when she broke her maiden in February at Aqueduct.

Now Little Belle is scheduled to return to Belmont Park and prepare for her next race.

PURE CLAN – Trainer Bob Holthus reported Saturday morning that Pure Clan came out of her third-place finish in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks in “great shape.”

Owned by IEAH Stable, Lewis Lakin and Pegasus Holding Group Stables, Pure Clan closed with a furious rush to get up for third, finishing 5 ¾ lengths behind Proud Spell.

“I can’t figure out why she can’t get going a little quicker,” Holthus said. “I didn’t even think she was going to hit the board, but at the eighth pole, she really came running.”

Pure Clan has made three starts this year and is in line for a break.
“We are going to point for the Coaching Club American Oaks (GI) at Belmont Park (on July 19),” Holthus said. “It’s a mile and a quarter on a bigger track. We will train her lightly for two or three weeks and then crank her back up.”

PROUD SPELL – The Brereton Jones’ homebred Kentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell came out of the race in fine order and trainer Larry Jones said, “She’s going to Fair Hill (Maryland). We leave on Monday.

“If all things go well, there’s a chance that we’ll have one or both pointing toward the New York filly triple crown (now known as the Triple Tiara). We’ll see how they do, but the Acorn (June 7 at Belmont Park) would be the logical next step. If Eight Belles wins the Derby, then we’d have to consider the Preakness (for her), but we’ll cross that as we go.”

Jones could become the third trainer in history to score an Oaks / Derby Double should Fox Hill Farms’ Eight Belles win the Derby this afternoon.

Note: Prior to 2003, the Acorn Stakes was the first leg of the New York Filly Triple Crown. In 2003, the series was reconfigured to consist of the Mother Goose Stakes, the Coaching Club of America Oaks (both at Belmont Park) and the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga.

RASIERRA – Lloyd DeBruycker’s Rasierra came out of her eighth-place Kentucky Oaks finish in good order according to Cody Autrey, who handled the bulk of the filly’s Churchill Downs training for trainer Ray Tracy Jr.

“She hit herself a little in the race, but there are no major issues,” Autrey said. “I imagine she will stay here four of five days and then they will make a decision on where she will go next.”