Kentucky Oaks: Contenders jog and gallop toward Friday

Monday's 7:30 a.m. EDT training session for Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks horses featured easy jogs or gallops from many of the major contenders including morning-line favorite Tarifa.

Everland. Foster Family Racing, William Wargel, R.K. Eckrich Racing and Maxis Stable’s Everland, winner of the Bourbonette Oaks in her most recent start for trainer Eric Foster, had a Monday morning assignment of walking the shedrow.

“Everything is good so far,” said Foster of the daughter of Arrogate, claimed by Foster for $30,000 in a Dec. 30, 2023, race at Turfway Park. She drew the No. 9 post, and was listed on the morning line at 30-1, with Abel Cedillo to ride.

Foster has 10 horses entered in races at Churchill Downs this week, including Maxisuperfly in the $600,000 Edgewood (G2), a turf race preceding the Oaks.

Fiona’s Magic. Fiona’s Magic galloped a mile and three-eighths and visited the starting gate shortly after 9 o’clock Monday morning under exercise rider Alejandro Mariano.

“She did well at the gate,” trainer Michael Yates said of the winner of the Davona Dale (G2).

In her most recent start, the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), Fiona’s Magic finished eighth, beaten 44 3/4 lengths.

“We learned absolutely nothing from that race,” Yates said. “We breezed her eight days before the race and scoped her. She scoped clean. Everything looked to be on 'go.' She had no nasal discharge. Everything was normal, but after the race, we scoped her, and she was loaded with mucus.”

Fiona’s Magic had three wins and two seconds before that race and Yates knew his filly was in trouble on the backstretch.

“When Chad (Brown’s) filly (Ways and Means) ran right by us between the half-mile pole and the three-eighths,” Yates said of when he knew something was wrong.

Last Tuesday at Gulfstream Park, Fiona’s Magic worked six furlongs in 1:15.16.

“The day after she worked, she scoped clean and everything looked good and that’s when we made the decision to come here,” said Yates, who has 28 horses stabled at Gulfstream Park and another 25 in training at his farm in Ocala, Florida.

Gin Gin, Tarifa. Gin Gin along with Tarifa both galloped about 1 1/2 miles Monday at 7:30 a.m. EDT for trainer Brad Cox.

“Just going through the normal motions right now,” Cox said. “All good.”

Into Champagne. Six Column Stables, Randy Bloch, Jim Gladden, Mike Davis and Michael Steele’s Into Champagne walked the shedrow on Monday for trainer Ian Wilkes.

“She’s been doing fine since she got here,” Wilkes said of his filly, who drew the no. 10 post with jockey Julian Leparoux and is a 30-1 shot on the morning line. “Monday’s always a walk day at our barn so nothing different today.

Following morning training, Into Champagne had a paddock schooling session.

Just F Y I. One day after breezing a half mile in 49.4 seconds, reigning juvenile filly champion Just F Y I stretched her legs with a jog once around during the 7:30 a.m. EDT training period.

Instead of a walk day, trainer Bill Mott wanted to give his Oaks contender and her stablemate, Kentucky Derby entrant Resilience, a chance to “loosen up” a day after their respective breezes.

“They’re both good,” the Hall of Fame trainer said.

Lemon Muffin. It was an early morning for Honeybee Stakes (G3) winner Lemon Muffin on Monday. With assistant trainer Sebastian "Bas" Nicholl keeping an eye on things for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, Lemon Muffin returned to the track around 5:30 a.m. EDT for a jog once around.

The daughter of Collected put in a swift final work Saturday in advance of the Kentucky Oaks (G1), going five furlongs in 58.2 seconds. Owned by Aaron Sones, Julie Gilbert, and Harrison Sones, Lemon Muffin won the Honeybee on Feb. 24 before most recently finishing seventh in the Fantasy Stakes (G2).

Leslie’s Rose, Candied. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is a clockwork guy.

Steady, steady, steady is what you get. His horses like it and, in the end, that’s what it’s all about.

His two potential Kentucky Oaks fillies – Leslie’s Rose and Candied – followed pattern Monday morning and went about the business of preparing for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks with a mile and three-eighths gallop during the 7:30-7:45 a.m. EDT special Oaks and Derby training period that Churchill Downs provides for those runners aiming for the two classics.

As he has on a regular basis, the conditioner assigned the horses’ regular exercise riders – Joel Osorio on Leslie’s Rose and Carlos Quevedo on Candied – to the two well-bred fillies for their exercise. The two covered a mile and three-eighths, then headed back to barn 39.

Leslie’s Rose is already in the $1.5 million field and drew Post 14; Candied is on the also-eligible list and will need two withdrawals this week if she’s to go.

“No gate work for these two today,” Pletcher said. “We’re all good.”

Power Squeeze. Lea Farms’ Kentucky-bred Power Squeeze visited the Churchill Downs track for a gallop Monday with exercise rider Edwin Castro. Trainer Jorge Delgado arrived in Louisville on Sunday from South Florida to oversee the final preparations of the Union Rags filly for the Oaks.

“She’s doing pretty good,” said Delgado, a nephew of Gustavo Delgado, the winning trainer of last year’s Derby with Mage. “Since she traveled on Thursday, she’s gone to the track now three times.”

Last Wednesday, she was timed by Gulfstream Park clockers going four furlongs in 49 seconds, in her last major work in preparation for the Oaks. Delgado said that because of travel plans, he decided to work her before shipping north. “We had to go with the cards we were dealt, and felt that it was the best way to give her time to recuperate,” he said.

“She’s very fit, and after a very busy winter, it’s a matter of maintenance here,” said Delgado, who had her ready to pull off an 11-1 upset in the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) that earned her a trip to the Kentucky Oaks – which was her fourth win in a row.

“Hopefully we can keep her as happy as she looks now right through the day of the race,” he added about the filly, a 12-1 morning-line pick who breaks from the no. 12 post with Daniel Centeno.

Delgado thinks the mile-and-an-eighth distance of the Oaks will suit Power Squeeze. “She’s a long-legged filly, with a long stride,” he said. “I believe the farther we go, the better it will be for her. I feel confident with the way she’s acting, the way she’s training.”

If there’s rain for the Oaks, Delgado believes she can handle any kickback. “She ran a second place sprinting in the slop,” he said, “and she won at Delaware, main track only, when it came off the turf. So I don’t think she cares about the slop. As long as she has a clean trip, I think she has a good chance.”

Regulatory Risk, Ways And Means. Trainer Chad Brown’s two Oaks contenders were both on the track during the 7:30 a.m. EDT training period.

Klaravich Stables’ Regulatory Risk returned to the track for a jog once around after putting in a half-mile work on April 27, while Grade 1-placed Ways and Means, who is also owned by Klaravich, was back galloping for the first time since her blazing half-mile breeze on April 26.

Tapit Jenallie. Willis Horton Racing’s Tapit Jenallie was on the track early Monday for trainer Eddie Milligan Jr. in preparation for the Oaks.

“Basically I just walked her around, walked her to the paddock, then galloped her to the half-mile pole and then came back,” said Milligan.

Tapit Jenallie is the only horse that he’s training at a racetrack for Horton.

“I actually broke her,” he said. “At that time, I was breaking yearlings for people. I broke most of her family, and I had broke horses for Mr. Horton for about 20 years. When I broke her, I really liked her and thought she was a pretty nice filly.”

Working with Tapit Jenallie marks a career change for Milligan. “This is my first year to train for Mr. Horton at the track. I broke horses for 30 years, that’s all that I’ve done. Before that, I trained at the track, and was a jockey before that. Last July, I was quitting breaking babies anyway, and he asked me if I’d train for him at the racetrack.

“I had a training center in East Texas where I raised my two boys, and when they went off to college, we decided to do something different. I sold that place and moved up to Hot Springs, broke babies there for three years, then started this deal with Mr. Horton.”   

Tapit Jenallie worked a half-mile Thursday with jockey Manny Esquivel, in 49.4 seconds.

Thorpedo Anna. Brookdale Racing, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks and Magdalena Racing’s Thorpedo Anna went out in the second set of workers for trainer Kenny McPeek on Monday with Martin Reyes.

“She went out a seven and a four – a mile-and-three-eighths gallop,” McPeek said.

Thorpedo Anna, who will have Brian Hernandez Jr. on board, drew the No. 5 post for the Oaks, and is at 5-1 on the morning line. On Friday, Hernandez guided her to a five-furlong work in 59.4 seconds.

Where’s My Ring. Gazelle Stakes (G3) winner Where’s My Ring had a quiet Monday morning with her key bit of activity being a nice gallop during the special 7:30-7:45 a.m. EDT training period for Derby and Oaks runners.

Trainer Val Brinkerhoff put regular exercise rider David Rodriguez up on his Twirling Candy filly, then watched them tour the big oval once, then half again in smart fashion.

The conditioner offered a nod of approval and noted: “She’ll go back (to stand in) the gate again at some point this week.”

Where’s My Ring drew post no. 3 for the Kentucky Oaks this Friday. Her Gazelle partner, veteran New York rider Jose Lezcano, once again will be in the saddle.

Also eligibles. Our Pretty Woman jogged one mile at 5:30 a.m. EDT. under regular rider Wilson Fabian for trainer Steve Asmussen. The filly still needs one defection to make the body of the Oaks.