Don't Tell Sophia Gears Up for Pippin

Breeders’ Cup Distaff runner-up Don’t Tell Sophia took the first step toward her scheduled 2015 debut in the $100,000 Pippin Stakes Jan. 17 at Oaklawn with an easy half-mile workout over a fast surface Friday morning.cc

Working from the half-mile pole to the wire, just after the break, Don’t Tell Sophia covered the distance in :51 without any urging from exercise rider Fernando Martinez. Clockers caught Don’t Tell Sophia’s last quarter in :24 1/5 and galloping out five furlongs in 1:04 1/5. Trainer Phil Sims had planned to breeze Don’t Tell Sophia this weekend, but moved the work up because of forecasted rain.

“Just went easy,” Sims said. “She’ll get a strong gallop during the week and get a work in again next Saturday, probably.”

Sims, who also co-owns the 6-year-old Congaree mare, said her next breeze will probably be five furlongs under regular rider Joe Rocco Jr. Following the work, Sims said Don’t Tell Sophia is being pointed for the Pippin, a 1 1/16-mile race she’s won the last two years.

Don’t Tell Sophia, who arrived in Hot Springs last Saturday, is also the two-time defending champion of Oaklawn’s $100,000 Bayakoa Stakes (elevated to G3 in 2015).

After scoring her biggest career victory in the $500,000 Spinster Stakes (G1) Oct. 5 at Keeneland, Don’t Tell Sophia finished second in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) Oct. 31 at Santa Anita. In her final start this year, ran second in the $200,000 Falls City Handicap (G2) Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

Her major spring objective is the $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) for older fillies and mares April 10 at Oaklawn.

Source: Oaklawn Park