Kentucky Oaks 2017 notes for May 3
{{monthName}} {{day}}, {{year}} {{hour12}}:{{minuteTwoDigit}}{{dayPeriod}}
KENTUCKY OAKS NOTES
ABEL TASMAN – China Horse Club and Clearsky Farms’ Santa Anita Oaks (GI) runner-up Abel Tasman galloped 1 3/8 miles under regular exercise rider Dana Barnes.
“It was very nice and she’s settled in great,” said Jimmy Barnes, lead assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. “We’re looking forward to running her.”
The threat of rain on Oaks Day prompted questions about how the Quality Road filly would respond to a muddy surface.
“I don’t know what kind of weather we’re going to get but we’re ready for anything,” Barnes said. “You really don’t know until they get out there but it seems like with a sloppy track here horses do come from off the pace, from what I’ve seen. As long as the track’s fair we’ll be fine. She’s trained over muddy tracks so it’s not a factor.”
DADDYS LIL DARLING – Normandy Farm’s Daddys Lil Darling jogged Wednesday morning, two days out from the Kentucky Oaks, for trainer Kenny McPeek.
With regular jockey Robby Albarado sidelined because of injury, Julien Leparoux picked up the mount on the Ashland (GI) runner-up.
“I think she ran very good in the Ashland,” Leparoux said. “I’m excited about the mount. Of course, it’s a shame with what happened to Robby but it’s a good thing he’s going to heal and be back with us soon.”
The daughter of Scat Daddy is expected to gallop Thursday morning at 5:45.
EVER SO CLEVER – Clearview Farm's Ever So Clever schooled in the gate and then galloped a mile under regular exercise rider Angel Gacia.
“She's doing very well,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “The cooler air has put a little pep in everyone's step. They all stepped out of the barn on their toes this morning.”
FARRELL – It was another routine day for high-energy Kentucky Oaks (GI) morning line 5-1 third-choice Farrell. The three-time GII winner exited Barn 30 at 8:35 a.m. under Antonio Ramos, escorted by Sara Tittle on a pony. Trainer Wayne Catalano and longtime assistant Fernando Canteria followed the Coffeepot Stables homebred astern with haste.
The daughter of Malibu Moon and half-sister to 2015 Kentucky Derby (GI) alum Carpe Diem stood in the paddock, stood in the gate and the finally galloped 1 3/4 miles on the main track.
“Everything was great again today,” Catalano said. “We’re happy.”
Jockey Channing Hill, son-in-law to Catalano, also was in attendance. After stating that he would prefer post seven or eight prior to the draw, he was pleased with receiving the former.
“Hopefully it’s all coming together,” Hill said. “I’m really happy with the post. I’m just going to let her break and run into the first turn. I was happy Paradise Woods drew inside (post four) of us and I’m fine with Miss Sky Warrior being outside (post 10). We have an eighth of a mile going into the turn, so I think they’ll already be in front of us if that’s the case. If my filly decides to be forward and we’re not ‘rocket-shipping’, then I’ll stay where I’m at. They’re really going to have to run into the turn to outrun me. They’ll have to use horse to get there and I know my filly will come back to me or she’ll just outrun them. My post is good because I can apply pressure and I can avoid pressure at the same time.”
A bit of a “hot” filly who is dominant around the barn and requires two handlers nearly at all times, Farrell may find the Kentucky Oaks Day crowd — which can hover in excess of 100,000 people — to be one of her challenges. Hill remains confident that his charge can handle it.
“She’s the boss,” Hill said. “She was pumped up when she broke her maiden before a pretty small (Churchill Downs) crowd and she’s acted exactly the same before every start, no matter how many people are there. I think it’s just her. She’s just ready to go. I have been married long enough to know that you just drop your hands, talk to them nicely and try not to fire her up any more than she is.”
JORDAN’S HENNY – Erv Woolsey and Ralph Kinder’s Jordan’s Henny walked the shedrow at trainer Mike Tomlinson’s barn Wednesday morning.
“We changed things up this morning and gave her a walk day,” Tomlinson said. “We looked at the weather (with rain forecast the next two days) and it looks like she may have to run in it so she may as well train in it. She will gallop a mile and a half tomorrow and go to the gate and the paddock.”
Tomlinson has his horses housed in Barn 1, which is located by the half-mile pole. From there, Tomlinson has a good view of the morning activity on the track.
“I have been watching the Oaks fillies,” Tomlinson said. “Miss Sky Warrior is a big, handsome filly and Salty has been, well, salty. She has been training really well and so has Paradise Woods.
“Unless things change, I know my filly will show up. Miss Sky Warrior only beat her a half-length in the Davona Dale (GII) and my filly gave her all she wanted that day.”
LOCKDOWN – Juddmonte Farms' Lockdown walked the shedrow Wednesday after completing her Oaks preparations with a three-furlong blowout in :35 Tuesday.
“She looks good,” trainer Bill Mott said.
One day after drawing post two for the Oaks, Mott was happy with the post.
“I think it's a pretty good spot,” Mott said. “The fastest way around the track is the inside.”
MISS SKY WARRIOR – Streaking multiple graded-stakes winner Miss Sky Warrior galloped a mile under Aurelio Gomez.
Escorted by trainer Kelly Breen on a pony and observed by Breen on horseback during her gallop, the Arlene’s Sun Star Stable-owned Gazelle (GII) winner is joined in the barn by fellow Breen-trained 3-year-old Derek’s Smile, who is slated to take on elders in the Twin Spires Turf Sprint (GIII) earlier on the Oaks card.
“It’s nice to have a couple horses here with her,” Breen said. “They enjoy it. When she shipped into New York (for the Gazelle), we shipped into someone else’s barn and she liked being around them. They like the action and seeing horses walking around them. They really thrive on camaraderie and entertainment.”
MOPOTISM – The Uncle Mo filly Mopotism was out with the rest of the Derby/Oaks runners taking advantage of the special 8:30 training period for a mile gallop under veteran rider Amir Cedeno.
Trainer Doug O’Neill, who also had his Derby hopeful Irap out during the same session, did double duty watching both go through their exercises.
“She’s feeling good,” said Cedeno, who has worked for the O’Neill outfit for about five years and whose history goes back to working with Hall of Famer Laz Berrera and galloping a mighty steed named Affirmed.
Mopotism will break from post three Friday under Mario Gutierrez in the 143rd edition of the Kentucky Oaks (GI).
PARADISE WOODS – Richard Mandella, the California-based Hall of Fame conditioner, had his filly star Paradise Woods out for a solid gallop Wednesday morning at 7:30 with his assistant trainer and exercise rider Alex Bisono in the saddle.
The Union Rags filly went a strong mile and a quarter in her gallop and both rider and trainer seemed pleased.
“She went well,” Mandella said. “She got some of her frustrations out today. She really wanted to go yesterday, but we held her back. Today we let her go some. It was good for her.”
Paradise Woods was scheduled for a paddock schooling session with the third race Wednesday and the sixth race Thursday.
SAILOR’S VALENTINE – It was another low-key day for Ashland (GI) winner Sailor’s Valentine as the 3-year-old filly continues to fly under the radar for trainer Eddie Kenneally and owners Semaphore Racing LLC and Homewrecker Racing LLC. She was assigned 30-1 morning-line odds for the Kentucky Oaks (GI).
On Wednesday, the gray filly left Barn 31 at 8:30 a.m. with exercise rider Kelly Wheeler aboard and trainer Kenneally on a pony and galloped 1 1/2 miles.
“Everything’s perfect and I’m really happy,” Kenneally said. “I really couldn’t be happier, actually. She’s doing as well as she can be.”
Like many Mizzen Mast offspring, Sailor’s Valentine has shown ample speed, but displayed marked improvement stalking while attempting two-turn dirt company for the first time last out in the Ashland at Keeneland. In the Oaks, she drew favorably for such a style in post eight.
“Ideally, we think stalking will be her running style going forward in two-turn dirt races,” Kenneally said. “She has natural speed, but she’s content to lay off leaders and relaxes beautifully, which was key in the Ashland. She wasn’t quite as relaxed as a 2-year-old last fall, but she has matured. Whoever is on the lead, depending on how quick they’re going, hopefully she relaxes nicely behind them.
“Like a lot of Mizzen Masts, she has a great constitution. She continues to eat and nothing fazes her and she’s just tough. He’s not a commercial sire, but they’re hard-knocking, sturdy and sound horses. She’s also a big, pretty filly and has a nice female side, as well, which is why she was maybe a little more expensive than (Mizzen Mast’s) usually are.”
SALTY/SUMMER LUCK – Gulfstream Park Oaks (GII) winner Salty galloped 1 ½ miles and visited the gate Wednesday morning at 8:30 for trainer Mark Casse.
The daughter of Quality Road will attempt to claim the opening leg of the Oaks-Derby double for Casse.
“Let’s just go one day at a time,” Casse joked. “She’s doing well and we’re excited for Friday.”
One of Salty’s co-owners, Chris Baccari, typically doesn’t find himself in the position to have one of the horses he owns in a premier race. Baccari, along with longtime partner Chester Prince, bred Salty as part of their operation with Baccari Bloodstock.
“I think it’s a great feeling to have a filly in the Oaks,” Baccari said. “Salty went through some growing pains when she was younger and we held onto her to make sure she developed more. I used to race a lot more than I should have, so I’ve since cut back and sell most of the horses we breed. I thought this was one horse to give it a go with.”
Salty will break from post position 14 with morning line odds of 6-1.
Summer Luck, who was most recently fifth in the Ashland, galloped 1 ½ miles Wednesday and still hopes to sneak into the race with a defection. The scratch time for the Oaks is 4 p.m. Thursday.
TEQUILITA – Dorothy Alexander Matz’s Tequilita was sent to the Churchill Downs track Wednesday morning for some light exercise under Jo Robinson.
“She backed up and jogged two miles. We took it real easy today,” said Michael Matz, who trains the Kentucky Oaks hopeful for his wife.
Dorothy Alexander Matz bred Tequilita, as well as her dam Sangrita, who won the seven-furlong Chilukki (GII) at Churchill Downs in 2006.
Tequilita was sired by Union Rags, the 2012 Belmont Stakes winner trained by Michael Matz.
“This is a real family affair,” he said.
The Union Rags-Sangrita mating turned out to be a match made in heaven.
“Her dam won going shorter. She was a big mare but short-coupled. I felt like we needed to stretch her out a little bit, and I knew he also had speed. I just thought it would be a good physical combo and when you looked at it on paper, the cross was good too,” Dorothy Alexander Matz said. “I’ve always been a big believer that Union Rags would make a nice sire. He has a great female side. He was a very sound horse, so I said, ‘What the heck, why not try it?’ ”
Michael Matz said Union Rags’ success as a stallion was gratifying.
“It’s certainly gratifying. When Lane’s End came up to vet him, the veterinarian said, ‘I’ll tell you one thing, this will be the soundest horse Lane’s End every got off the track.’ That made me feel good,” he said.
“I’m just happy he’s doing well as a stallion.”
He also trained Sangrita, who won three of eight starts.
“I’d say her mother was just a little bit more high-strung than Tequilita,” he said.
Like her dam, Tequilita became a Grade II winner at seven furlongs by capturing the Forward Gal last winter. Although she didn’t go on to win the 1 1/16-mile Gulfstream Park Oaks (GII), she did show her trainer two-turn promise with her second-place finish behind Salty.
“I think she was a little bit anxious going into the first turn. Hopefully, now she’ll relax a little bit more,” he said.
VEXATIOUS – Calumet Farm’s Vexatious galloped 1 ½ miles under exercise rider Freddy Quevero at the end of training hours, avoiding the hubbub of the Oaks and Derby training session. The full sister to multiple Grade I winner Creative Cause and last year’s Belmont Stakes runner-up Destin will be ridden Friday by Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, who has been aboard for all five of her starts.
“We’ve had some success over the years,” said trainer Neil Drysdale, who teamed with Desormeaux to win the 2000 Derby with Fusaichi Pegasus. “He’s riding well. He was available to ride her in her first start at Del Mar and we’ve just left it at that.”
Drysdale has one other Triple Crown win, the 1992 Belmont Stakes with A.P. Indy, while Desormeaux has three Kentucky Derby victories and seven Triple Crown wins overall.
WICKED LICK – Lee Mauberret’s Wicked Lick galloped 1 ½ miles after the morning renovation break with exercise rider Leo Garcia aboard for trainer Brendan Walsh.
Wicked Lick, listed at 30-1 on the morning line for the Oaks, will break from post position nine under Brian Hernandez Jr. Hernandez Jr. has ridden Wicked Lick in six of her eight starts.
“She is a hard-trying filly and is always right there,” Hernandez said. “The one time she was off the board with me (a fourth in the Rachel Alexandra), that was pilot error. I got pushed out wider but she came back running. She tries every time.”
Hernandez was aboard for the filly’s first two starts that were on grass.
“She started on the grass and we wanted to run in a stake at Kentucky Downs, but she didn’t get in,” Hernandez said. “On dirt, she has been getting better each race. She has been second to (Oaks rival) Farrell twice and that is nothing to sneeze at.”
Hernandez will be one of many riders attempting an Oaks-Derby double this weekend. He also has the Derby assignment on McCraken.
Seven riders have won the Oaks and Derby in the same year with the most recent sweep coming in 2009 when Calvin Borel won the Oaks on Rachel Alexandra and the Derby on Mine That Bird.
“That would be some pretty exclusive company,” Hernandez said of the riders who have done that. Six of the seven are in the Hall of Fame.
KENTUCKY OAKS FIELD
The field for the Longines Kentucky Oaks with jockey and morning-line odds from the rail out, is: Ever So Clever (Luis Contreras, 20-1), Lockdown (Jose Ortiz, 20-1), Mopotism (Mario Gutierrez, 20-1), Paradise Woods (Flavien Prat, 5-2), Jordan’s Henny (Joe Rocco, 30-1), Vexatious (Kent Desormeaux, 20-1), Farrell (Channing Hill, 5-1), Sailor’s Valentine (Corey Lanerie, 30-1), Wicked Lick (Brian Hernandez Jr., 30-1), Miss Sky Warrior (Paco Lopez, 9-2), Tequilita (Luis Saez, 20-1), Daddys Lil Darling (Julien Leparoux, 20-1), Abel Tasman (Mike Smith, 5-1) and Salty (Joel Rosario, 6-1). Also-Eligible: Summer Luck (Javier Castellano, 30-1). All starters will carry 121 pounds.
Source: Churchill Downs
Read More
“You’ve got to keep going,” trainer Kenny McPeek said this week. He could have been talking about dealing...
The 9-race opening day card on Thursday at Fair Grounds includes a pair of stakes for Louisiana-bred horses....
With Fair Grounds opening Thursday, we looked at jockey statistics from the 2024-25 meet to identify key trends....
Citing "industry and economic headwinds," Woodbine Entertainment reorganized its personnel and laid off an undisclosed number of employees....
Yaupon maintains his commanding lead as a tight race unfolds for second place among freshman sires. The 2025...