Kentucky Oaks 2016 Notes - 5/2/16

Kentucky Oaks 2016 Notes - 5/2/16
Photo: Liz Lamont/Eclipse Sportswire

Five fillies, with their sights set on Friday’s $1 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI) worked.
Asmussen worked four of them before the break when the track was listed as “good.” Stonestreet Stables’ Terra Promessa worked a half-mile in :50.80, and Royal Obsession, also owned by Stonestreet, worked a half-mile in :50.40. Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Taxable worked a half-mile in :50.40 and LNJ Foxwoods’ Nickname worked a half-mile in :50.60.
Working after the break was Three Chimneys Farm’s Carina Mia, who drilled a half-mile in :49.40.
The draw for the Kentucky Oaks will take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Parlay/Media Center’s media briefing room.

KENTUCKY OAKS NOTES

 

CATHRYN SOPHIA – Cash is King’s Cathryn Sophia got her first feel of the Churchill Downs’ surface this morning when she and exercise rider Jerry Ortega jogged once around the track during the training session for Derby and Oaks horses. 

Trainer John Servis was on hand to watch Cathryn Sophia, who arrived in Louisville early Sunday afternoon after a van ride from Keeneland. Servis, who won the Kentucky Derby in 2004 with Smarty Jones, reflected on what it would mean to him to earn his first Kentucky Oaks victory. 

“It would be great, are you kidding me, it would be a nice one for the resume — that’s for sure,” the trainer said with a big smile. 

Cathryn Sophia, who suffered the first defeat of her career in Keeneland’s Central Bank Ashland (GI) when finishing third as the odds-on favorite in the 1 1/16-mile race, is a winner of four races, ranging from six furlongs to a mile. After the Ashland defeat, Chuck Zackney, the filly’s owner, and Servis planned on skipping the Oaks, and returning Cathryn Sophia to sprinting in the Eight Belles (GII) on the Oaks undercard. But, when the undefeated Songbird, last year’s champion 2-year-old filly was removed from Oaks consideration, Cathryn Sophia’s connections had a change of heart. 

“I don’t want to say it was an easy decision,” Servis said. “Chuck and I talked about it quite a bit, actually. But I think it was a combination of things — how well she did run in the Ashland, and that the field included five of the top horses we have to beat in the Oaks, as well as how she is doing — she is actually doing better now than she was going into the Ashland. She is eating better and her coat looks better. She’s just changed.” 

“I feel great about her,” he continued. “The only question is the mile and an eighth.” 

Javier Castellano, who is seeking his initial win in the Kentucky Oaks, has the mount aboard Cathryn Sophia. 

CARINA MIA – Three Chimneys Farm’s Carina Mia, who remains at 17th on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard, worked a half-mile Monday morning at Churchill Downs with exercise rider Penny Gardiner in the saddle. 

The Bill Mott trainee covered the distance in :49.40, with splits of :24.40 and :37. Her five-furlong gallop-out time was 1:02.80. 

“We had a really fast work last week, so I thought this was good,” Mott said of his filly’s bullet five-furlong breeze in :58.80 at Churchill on April 25.      

The Hall of Fame trainer conceded that with the clock ticking on entries tomorrow for the Oaks — and Carina Mia on the outside looking in — it is likely he will enter the winner of last year’s Golden Rod (GII) at Churchill Downs in the Eight Belles (GII) on the Oaks undercard. Kentucky rules do not allow for Mott entering Carina Mia in both races. 

“If we’re still at [17] tomorrow, I would certainly be inclined to enter in the Eight Belles,” said Mott, who then quipped, “I’ve checked on [the rule], and I tried to change the rule, and they wouldn’t do it.” 

 

DOTHRAKI QUEEN – Magdalena Racing’s Dothraki Queen galloped a mile after the renovation break under Erin Walker. 

Trained by Kenny McPeek, Dothraki Queen finished eighth in the Appalachian (GIII) at Keeneland on April 16 in her 2016 debut, a grass race in which she lost a shoe shortly after the break.

Winner of the Pocahontas (GII) here in September, Dothraki Queen is 16th on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard. 

 

DREAM DANCE – Stoneway Farm’s Dream Dance galloped 1 ¼ miles under Joel Dominguez before 7 o’clock for trainer Neil Howard. 

“She cut back a little this morning because she did a little more in her work Friday (five-eighths in :59.60), so we are compensating for that,” Howard said. 

Howard is seeking his second Oaks victory, having scored in 2000 with Secret Status. 

“This filly (Dream Dance) is similar to Secret Status in that both of them are good feeling fillies,” Howard said. “The biggest battle Secret Status had was with herself. She was kind of a nervous filly.” 

Prior to the Oaks, Secret Status had compiled an 8-4-0-3 record with a victory in the Florida Oaks (GIII) before winning the Kentucky Oaks. Dream Dance will bring a 9-2-0-4 mark into Friday’s race and fresh off an allowance victory April 16 at Keeneland. 

Secret Status won the Kentucky Oaks 47 days after winning the Florida Oaks. 

“She was a light-framed filly and you didn’t need to over-train her,” Howard said of Secret Status, who followed her Oaks victory with a triumph in the Mother Goose (GI). 

Brian Hernandez Jr. has the mount Friday. 

 

GO MAGGIE GO – Mike Tarp’s Go Maggie Go jogged two miles the “wrong way” around the Churchill Downs racetrack Monday morning. 

Trainer Dale Romans said the daughter of Ghostzapper is scheduled to gallop 1 1/8 miles Tuesday morning. 

Go Maggie Go, who debuted with a four-length victory at six furlongs at Gulfstream March 13, earned her way into the Oaks field with her 2 ¼-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Gulfstream Park Oaks (GII) April 2 in her first trip around two turns. 

“It was way too much to ask of a 3-year-old filly second start of her life, and it’s the same thing in the third start of her life for her to go in the Kentucky Oaks,” Romans said. “It’s not something you would expect, but she’s a strong filly. She’s more like a colt. She’s good-minded, and she’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the Oaks.” 

 

LAND OVER SEA – Exercise rider Jonny Garcia has been a busy man in Kentucky of late. His boss, trainer Doug O’Neill, has brought in a string of stakes runners to go along with his Kentucky Derby hopeful Nyquist and his Kentucky Oaks candidate Land Over Sea. Garcia gets on them all in the mornings.

Monday morning at Churchill Downs he boarded one runner after another, including an 8:30 date with likely Derby favorite Nyquist. Shortly thereafter, he was in the boot once more with Land Over Sea, who will be among the favorites for Friday’s rich Oaks. 

Garcia guided the Bellamy Road filly through a smart gallop of about a mile and quarter, then returned her to her Barn 41 headquarters. 

“Good gallop, good energy,” said the always-upbeat O’Neill, who took in the exercise trackside. “We like where we are with her.” 

Land Over Sea has raced eight times. In two of them she was a winner and in a third she went unplaced. Five other times she had the grand misfortune to run into the strapping Songbird, the 3-year-old lassie who most everyone believes is the best in the land. Songbird, who has beaten everyone she faced, won’t be in Friday’s Oaks because of a sickness. It has given the other fillies in the division an unexpected ray of hope. 

“We like our filly on Friday,” O’Neill assistant trainer Leandro Mora said. “And one of the big reasons is that there won’t be any Songbird this time. If she was in the race, we’d all be running for second place.” 

 

LEWIS BAY – Alpha Delta Stables’ Lewis Bay, winner of the Gazelle Stakes (GII) at Aqueduct last month, galloped 1 1/4 under exercise rider Gian Cueva at about 9 a.m., shortly after her Derby-bound stablemates My Man Sam and Shagaf returned to the barn. 

“We wanted to wait until they harrowed the track so we’d have a little bit better surface,” trainer Chad Brown said. “She’s moving very, very well over the track and she seems happy and her weight’s good.” 

 

MARQUEE MISS – The multiple stakes winner Marquee Miss, who is 18th of the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard, continued to train as if she's going in the race by galloping Monday morning, but is most likely going to be entered Tuesday in the Eight Belle Stakes (GII) on the same card, according to trainer Ingrid Mason. The Kentucky Oaks is limited to 14 starters. 

 

MO D’AMOUR/RACHEL’S VALENTINA – “Back her up to the finish, then go from the seven to the five,” said trainer Todd Pletcher to exercise rider Amy Mullen as she slipped out of Barn 40 at 6:30 Monday morning aboard the back of a nicely made bay filly named Rachel’s Valentina. 

The conditioner wanted his rider to backtrack from their entry at the six-furlong gap on Churchill Downs’ backstretch to the finish line, then jog to the five-furlong marker where she commenced a gallop once around the track and on to the seven-furlong pole – a working journey of about a mile and a quarter. He then went trackside and watched horse and rider do just that. 

And do that Rachel’s Valentina did – in spades. The offspring of a mating between top sire Bernardini and the champion filly Rachel Alexandra virtually pranced through her exercise, going after the furlongs with vigor.  Mullen had a handful under her all the way around.  Rachel’s Valentina acted like a horse who was looking very much forward to racing, which she’ll get to do this Friday in the $1,000,000 Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI). 

“She’s not as big as her mother,” Pletcher said. “But she’s really well balanced and she’s got a big stride on her.” 

Rachel’s Valentina, a winner of two of three as a 2-year-old and a close second in her comeback race at Keeneland April 9, will have the saddle services of Hall of Famer John Velazquez on Friday. She’ll be one of the favorites for this 142nd edition of the Run for the Lilies. 

The trainer’s other Oaks hopeful, Mo d’Amour, also had Mullen up when she went out for a mile and a quarter gallop at 8:30 a.m. with the stable’s two Kentucky Derby colts, Destin and Outwork. 

Mo d’Amour will be handled by Joel Rosario on Friday as she attempts to build on a record that shows the Uncle Mo filly winning three of her six starts. 

 

MOKAT – JK Racing Stable’s Mokat jogged one mile “the wrong way” (clockwise) before a spirited 1 1/4-mile gallop under Martin Ruiz during the 15-minute Oaks and Derby training session. 

“She had her last work 10 days out from the race so I think some good, strong gallops are the right thing for her,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “I just let the horse do what she wants. I’m not trying to go slow and easy with her. She got a lot out of the gallop and she’s getting used to the track. I didn’t see a horse train better than her today. I got excited when I saw her go by. She looked good yesterday but she looked even better today.” 

Mokat had her final timed work April 26 at Santa Anita, the day before shipping to Louisville. Baltas has learned that his Uncle Mo filly benefits when she has extra time to recover from her breezes. 

“I don’t think she’s one that can work right on top of a race,” he said. “That’s just the type of filly she is.” 

The scheduling appears to be having its desired effect, as Baltas has seen incremental improvement from Mokat in terms of energy and comfort nearly every day since arriving at Churchill Downs. 

“It’s just the ground she’s covering and the way she’s been wanting to do it,” he said. “My rider said she was nice and relaxed this morning and he could feel she wanted to pick it up so we let her pick it up a little bit.

“She gets a lot better hold of this track than she did Santa Anita. The way she looks right now, hopefully there’s a lot of speed in the race because she’ll be coming from behind.”

 

NICKNAME/ROYAL OBSESSION/TAXABLE/TERRA PROMESSA – Trainer Steve Asmussen's Kentucky Oaks hopefuls had easy, half-mile workouts before the renovation break Monday at Churchill Downs. 

In the first set of the morning, Winchell Thoroughbreds' Taxable, with exercise rider Abel Flores aboard, worked in :50.40 with splits of :24.40 and :37.40. Also in that set, Stonestreet Stables and Regis Farms LP’s Royal Obsession, with exercise rider Carlos Rosas aboard, worked in :50.40 with a first quarter in :24.60. 

In the next set, Stonestreet's Terra Promessa, with Flores riding, worked in :50.80 with fractions of :12.60, :25.40 and :38. LNJ Foxwoods' Nickname, with Rosas riding, worked in :50.60 with splits of :25.60 and :38.40. 

"I'm happy with them physically and mentally,'' Asmussen said of the four fillies. 

Terra Promessa is on a four-race winning streak, her latest victory coming in the Fantasy (GII) at Oaklawn Park. Taxable was second in that race. Royal Obsession is coming off a runner-up finish in the Gazelle (GII). Nickname, who won the Frizette (GI) last year, has finished second in all three of her starts this year, the most recent being the Beaumont (GII), an about seven-furlong race April 17 at Keeneland.

PAOLA QUEEN – Grupo 7C Racing Stable’s Paolo Queen had an “open gallop” around the Churchill Downs track Monday morning, reported trainer Gustavo Delgado. 

“She went very, very, very good,” Delgado said. “Her last work was a good one. She has trained very good at Churchill Downs. I like her.” 

The daughter of Flatter broke her maiden in her fourth career start Feb. 14 at Gulfstream before stepping up to finish second behind Go Maggie Go in the Gulfstream Park Oaks (GII). 

Emisael Jaramillo, Venezuela’s all-time win leader who has ridden with a high level of success at Gulfstream Park this year, has been named to ride Paolo Queen, as well as the Delgado-trained Majesto in the Kentucky Derby. 

 

VENUS VALENTINE – Rosemont Farm's Venus Valentine galloped a mile and a quarter Monday under exercise ricer Maurice Sanchez for trainer Tom Amoss, and the filly also schooled in the starting gate. 

Amoss said that Venus Valentine, who will be a longshot, would have been entered for the Oaks even if Songbird would have been running. Undefeated, champion Songbird was withdrawn because of a fever. 

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Eigels of Rosemont Farm (owned by Mr. and Mrs. James Eigel),'' Amoss said. "They bred this filly. They earned their way in with a Grade II victory down in New Orleans (in the Rachel Alexandra), and we were going to run no matter what. It's not lost on us that Venus Valentine has to improve quite a bit to make the winner's circle in the Kentucky Oaks, and we're doing all we can to prepare for that. 

"I think it's very disappointing that the fans are not going to see (Songbird) run, because she's such an exceptional horse, and truly, would probably be one of the top choices if she ran in the Kentucky Derby, much less the Kentucky Oaks. So they're going to miss an opportunity to see a really good horse. But that's how horse racing is. It can be cruel at times.''

 

WEEP NO MORE – Ashbrook Farm’s Weep No More was one of the first horses on the track Monday morning, jogging a mile under exercise rider Alex Gonzales for trainer Rusty Arnold. 

Weep No More, who made her racing debut here last fall, has spent a lot of time at Churchill Downs. 

“She came into the barn here last summer and was here through the fall until we went to Payson (Park in Florida),” said Jack Bohannan, who oversees Arnold’s Churchill Downs string. “She was only at Keeneland for 10 days for the (Central Bank) Ashland before coming back here April 11.” 

Bohannan did not see “future Kentucky Oaks winner” stamped on Weep No More in the early going. 

“She is a two-turn horse,” Bohannan said. “She had the least ability of any of them because she didn’t have the speed to stay with the sprinters. Her first start here was a mess (breaking slow and finishing eighth in a field of 12). 

“When she got to Payson, she started training better. She was a different filly than she was here. Maybe that first race woke her up. That first race was the reason she made her first start this year at Tampa (Bay Downs) instead of Gulfstream Park.” 

Weep No More broke her maiden going a mile and 40 yards at Tampa on Jan. 22 and came back three weeks later to win the Suncoast Stakes. In her graded stakes debut, she ralled from far back to win the Ashland and punch her ticket to the Oaks. 

“She is not the biggest or the strongest and is not the prettiest mover,” Bohannan said. “But, what she does have is a real good kick the last eighth.” 

Corey Lanerie will have the mount Friday.

Source: Churchill Downs 

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