Kentucky Oaks Barn Notes - Rose to Gold Works 4f
“Close Hatches galloped like a mile and three-eighths and went to the gate – stood and backed out,’’ Mott said of the filly who was ridden by Joanna Trout. “She’s doing very well. She’s galloping good. She’s scheduled to work on Sunday, I guess.’’
Close Hatches, undefeated in three starts, won at the Oaks distance, a mile and an eighth, in the Gazelle (GII) on April 6 at Aqueduct in her last start and stakes debut.
Flashy Gray, coming off a runner-up finish in the Fair Grounds Oaks (GII) is scheduled to work Saturday. The workout will be her first at Churchill Downs.
Mott said he likes how Flashy Gray is getting over the Churchill track. “She’s a little relaxed,’’ he said of the filly who was ridden by Penny Gardiner. “There’s not a lot of traffic out there. She’s pretty relaxed right not without much traffic. We’ll put her in company to work tomorrow.’’
Mott noted that many of the Oaks filles have the same style – “speed, stalkers.’’ Close Hatches led all the way in her last two races, and Flashy Gray was a stalker in her last four races.
Rose to Gold came on the track at the 5 ½-furlong gap and had one leisurely circuit of the track before Borel turned her loose through fractions of :24 and :35.60 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:00 and six furlongs in 1:13.20.
“She is awesome. She worked very good, better than last week,” Borel said, referring to the filly’s :48.20 work of last Saturday. “This is just a filly that is getting better all the time.”
Borel, who won the 2009 Oaks on Rachel Alexandra, has been aboard Rose to Gold for her past two starts, victories in the Honeybee (GIII) and Fantasy (GIII) at Oaklawn Park.
“I got on her a
couple times before the Honeybee,” Borel said of his introduction to
Rose to Gold. “I had watched her run the day she was second (in the
Martha Washington) and thought she had a little potential.”
Denis Roberson, who has been overseeing Rose to Gold’s preparations here for trainer Sal Santoro, said the filly would walk the next two days with Santoro scheduled to arrive in Louisville
late Monday and be at the barn Tuesday.
“She will walk two days, gallop two days, walk two days and run,” Roberson said. “That’s been his M.O. with her and he has done a tremendous job.”
“Naturally, it took a while to resolve that, but we still put glue-on shoes – we’re not using nail shoes on her,’’ Flint said.
Flint said that Seaneen Girl was racing for the first time with glue-on shoes when she finished third in the Fair Grounds Oaks. “She did well with them,’’ Flint said.
The Fair Grounds Oaks was Seaneen Girl’s first race this year. She closed her 2012 season with a victory in the Golden Rod (GII) at Churchill Downs.
Seaneen Girl galloped a mile and five-eighths Friday, and Flint said he’s planning to work her once more before the Oaks when she will be ridden by Rosie Napravnik.
“I think we’re seven days out now,’’ he said. “I’m going to probably be working her about five days out or four days out. We put a lot of air, long gallops, in her, and we use exercise riders to work her. They’re carrying 30, 40 pounds more than a rider would be, and believe that would build them up and build air in them. And really, we know she can run, so we don’t need to prove that point. I just have to build up the air and keep them nice and strong, so when we go over there, we’ve got to run a little farther, a mile and an eighth, they’ll have plenty air and wind.’’
Seaneen Girl shows two workouts since the Fair Grounds Oaks – five furlongs in 1:01.40 on April 17 at Churchill and five furlongs Wednesday in 1:06.20 at Churchill. But Flint said that she actually wasn’t working Wednesday but was galloping a mile and five-eighths. Clockers timed the last part of her gallop, he said.