Feathered Finds New Home on Turf
Feathered made her first seven starts on dirt, winning only a maiden allowance race but placing in a pair of Grade I stakes, the Frizette and the Starlet as a two-year-old, not to mention a solid fourth-place performance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, beaten only a length by champion Take Charge Brandi.
But her breeding suggested she might like the turf, whereupon trainer Todd Pletcher tried her in the Grade III Edgewood at Churchill Downs on May 1. She led the seven-horse field throughout, winning the 1 1/16-mile race by two lengths.
Next up: Saturday’s Grade I American Oaks at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita.
“We decided we wanted to give her a try on the grass because she’s out of a Dynaformer mare and had a hunch that she would like it,” Pletcher said by phone from New York where he is preparing three horses for possible starts in the June 6 Belmont Stakes.
“It was the first time we put her on grass. We didn’t even have the opportunity to breeze her on it before that. She took to it well and once she ran well, we decided to take a look at the American Oaks. She’s trained well, travel arrangements worked out, and (former Pletcher assistant) Mike McCarthy will look over her while she’s at Santa Anita.”
Feathered, a bay daughter of 1998 Santa Anita Derby winner Indian Charlie out of the Dynaformer mare Receipt, is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. She has a 2-2-1 record from eight starts with earnings of $400,974 and will be ridden by Santa Anita’s leading rider, Tyler Baze.
McCarthy said Feathered arrived Wednesday night and “couldn’t be doing any better.”
Pletcher, meanwhile, hopes to derail American Pharoah’s Triple Crown express in the Belmont with perhaps Carpe Diem, Materiality and/or Madefromlucky. “We have three currently in training that are possibilities,” said Pletcher, the nation’s leader in purse earnings this year with just over $9.2 million, some $1.7 million more than runner-up Bob Baffert.
“Materiality unfortunately missed the break in the Derby. He got way back, then closed very well and has trained well since then,” Pletcher said.
Carpe Diem finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby, while Materiality was an eventful sixth, closing from 17th at the mile marker in the 1 1/4-mile classic.
The Equibase chart reads: “MATERIALITY hesitated at the break to be away last, dropped well off the early pace, lost ground four wide down the backstretch, remained four wide to the head of the lane, angled to the inside of a tiring Mr. Z in upper stretch, flashed some interest gaining to mid stretch but failed to seriously sustain.”
The field for the American Oaks, which goes as the fifth of nine races: Spanish Queen,
Brice Blanc, 2-1; Dating Lady Luck, Corey Nakatani, 12-1; Feathered, Tyler Baze, 7-2; Sharla Rae, Drayden Van Dyke, 6-1; Mrs McDougal, Gary Stevens, 5-2; and Consumer Credit, Flavien Prat, 3-1.
Strict Compliance was scratched.
Sour