Barn Tour: Brisset on Yuugiri, We the People, other stable talent

Yuugiri followed her win in the Fantasy (G3) with a 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks for trainer Rodolphe Brisset.

But don't call it a disappointment.

"The mile and an eighth distance was a question mark, a big one," Brisset told Horse Racing Nation Tuesday. "Obviously, she answered that. On the paper, it looked like, we were at the speed with Echo Zulu, it was just a matter of how fast they were going to go. And it just looked like, they may have went a bit too fast. And obviously Echo Zulu got very tired and we got very tired."

Yuugiri jumped to the lead with fractions of 22.45 and 46.51 seconds.

"It is what it is," he said. "You've got to be in it to try to win it. She qualified herself for it and we took a shot and it didn't work out. We've got to regroup and see."

Speaking from Belmont Park, Brisset said he had not decided what's next for the filly.

The June 11 Acorn (G1) was considered an option before the Oaks, "but she was pretty tired," Brisset said.

She'll train lightly this week at Keeneland, "and then I'm going to get my eyes back on her and then get back on her riding too and then see, could she pass the Acorn and maybe look at something like the the Iowa Oaks or maybe something like the Indiana Oaks, where it's still two turns but on a speed favoring track.

"I think we've just got to keep all options open. We will have to see what the filly shows us and tells us and then in the same time, I will have a talk with the ownership and see. But the Acorn, she may be more 50-50."

Yuugiri is joined in Brisset's stable by We the People and other talented horses. The trainer provided a rundown for Horse Racing Nation's Barn Tour series.

We the People. The buzz surrounding this 3-year-old colt after easy wins in his first two career starts died down when he finished seventh in the Arkansas Derby (G1). But Brisset is not disappointed in him either, and he is pointed to this weekend's Peter Pan (G3).

"You've got to look at the big picture. We were asking the horse to run three races in what, six weeks, I think, or maybe seven weeks. … They went 22 flat on the inside of us and Flavien (Prat) had no choice but to take him back. The horse is just very green, lack of experience. Do we think less of the horse? No. It was a one-shot deal to try to get into the Derby. Maybe it was a good thing he didn't make it."

We the People is back at Keeneland, and "it just feels like the horse is back home," Brisset said. "He's been easier to train, physically he looks like he blossoms to be back in the bluegrass. And we love his pattern of the work. His last work was very impressive. So we just feel like the five or six weeks between the Arkansas Derby and the Peter Pan could be a really good thing."

That last work was four furlongs in 48.60 seconds.

As for his effort in the Arkansas Derby, Brisset said, "It's just seasoning. I think he may have won these first two races more on talent than exactly knowing what he was doing. He's not easy to be around. And we know him now and he knows us. And it looks like he's trying to mature in a good way. So we'll see how he trains here and we go to school and try to bring him the best we can on Saturday."

Western River. The Tapit colt also is running in the Peter Pan. "We feel like if you run 1, 2, 3 in the Peter Pan, we will more than likely try to take a shot at the Belmont Stakes just because we feel like he wants the mile and a half, and they are 3 years old and we don't have a lot of races for 3-year-olds. I just tried to map the best I can to bring him in there. Obviously, he's going to have to run 1, 2, 3 in the Peter Pan for us to think he's got the quality and the talent to try to run good in the Belmont Stakes. But we know the distance and the surface won't be an issue. So we just need to see if if the talent is there."

Kuchar. The 3-year-old Uncle Mo colt debuted in August and then took six months off before returning at Oaklawn. He broke his maiden in his second start off the layoff and then was second in the listed Oaklawn Stakes. "We got him into stakes company. and he was a good second. The time and number came back just average, but it was only the third race off the layoff. He's a big, good-looking colt, and we just felt like the experience and the maturation is going to come around now more than anything. So he's nominated for the Sir Barton on Preakness day. It's something we may look at. And if not, we could wait for an allowance at Churchill, because the purse money is so attractive, it's very difficult to pass on that."

Hozier. The 4-year-old gelding, whom Brisset calls "the big horse," was off for six months before returning to finish fourth in an Oaklawn allowance, followed by a second in the Isaac Murphy Marathon. "We took a shot to try him a mile and a half the other day and he ran a really good second, we thought. The number came back fast, looks like it was one of his best races lifetime. So I think we're going to stick around those long-distance races and maybe give it a try on the grass. If I can find a spot for him going long on the grass, I may try to see if there could be something that could fit him."

Harvard. After getting off to a fast start last year, the 4-year-old has not had a win in four starts since winning a Churchill Downs allowance last June, and he finished in last place in an April 30 allowance at Belmont. "We got a pretty disappointing performance the other day in Belmont. We shipped all the way there and things didn't go his way and our way. Just one of those races you want to put a line through. He's a tricky horse, you need to draw at the right place in a gate, you need to have everything go his way to really perform 100 percent. He's back with us in Keeneland, and we can regroup and then we've got to see what kind of spot available we have for him. But I think we're going to keep him around a starter allowance, non-winner of three lifetime and try to win another race."

Brisset also said that 6-year-old Beau Luminarie has been retired. The gelding was third in the Essex (G3) to start the year and was fifth in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) last out. "After his troubled fifth place in the Oaklawn Handicap, we noticed a little change on one of his legs. Nothing bad, but it was enough for me to make an easy call and pull the plug on him. So he's retired. … He's got a beautiful life now."