GP Oaks winner Salty will ship to Churchill Downs this week

Trainer Mark Casse reported Sunday morning that Salty, the impressive winner of the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) Saturday, will ship to Churchill Downs this week.

 

Salty, who won her first start in a stakes in the Gulfstream Park Oaks, came from off the pace to blow away seven rivals in the 1 1/16-mile race while rolling to a 4 1/4-length victory. It was the daughter of Quality Road’s second consecutive win at the Championship Meet, after she broke her maiden March 5 in her second career start.

 

“I thought Salty was ultra-impressive yesterday, not only given her long, sustained run, but closing on a track that is not easy to close on,” Casse said.

 

Salty, who isn’t among the original nominees to the Kentucky Oaks, which also has a late nomination deadline of April 12, picked up 100 points for her win Saturday.    

 

There is no firm race plan yet for Repole Stable’s Nonna Bella, who set the pace in the Oaks, her first try around two turns off a pair of sprint wins this winter at Gulfstream. She continued to fight on in second heading into the stretch before tiring and was beaten less than six lengths, a neck behind third-place finisher Jordan’s Henny.

 

"I think that she ran hard. We’re still trying to figure out maybe what her best distance is and trying to get her to settle a little bit. She’s blessed with a lot of natural talent and a lot of natural speed, we just need to harness it a little bit,” Pletcher said. “I thought she ran a credible race. We were asking a lot of her to go from a maiden to allowance to a two-turn graded stake and she didn’t disgrace herself by any means. We might back her up in the future and look at some one-turn and sprint races.”

 

Meanwhile, the Pletcher-trained 6-year-old All Included earned his first graded stakes victory in the $200,000 Appleton (G3). Pletcher said the $100,000 Miami Mile (G3) April 29, the first stakes of Gulfstream’s spring-summer meet that opens April 5 and runs through Sept. 30, is a likely landing spot for All Included’s next start.

 

“He just seems to like Gulfstream so much that we’re thinking we might leave him here for that,” he said. “He came out of it well. He’s a very, very cool horse. He’s run well a number of times and just missed so it was great to see him get a graded stakes win. He’s a seasoned veteran that shows up and gives it to you every time.”

 

Meanwhile on Sunday, St. Elias Stable’s Battalion Runner breezed a half-mile with Velazquez in :49 1/5 in his final work for the Wood Memorial (G2) April 8 at Aqueduct. The sophomore son of Unbridled’s Song broke his maiden by 8 ¾ lengths Dec. 31 at Gulfstream and came back to take an entry-level optional claiming allowance Feb. 3.

 

Pletcher said Battalion Runner will ship from Palm Beach Downs to New York Tuesday.