Kentucky Oaks notes: All systems go ahead of Friday's race

Preparations continued at Churchill Downs on Tuesday morning ahead of Saturday's Kentucky Oaks.

Always a Runner. Always a Runner galloped 1 1/2 miles for trainer Chad Brown.

Bella Ballerina. Bella Ballerina galloped about 1 1/2 miles Tuesday morning under exercise rider Erin Campbell.

Brooklyn Blonde, Meaning. Trainer Michael McCarthy and his right-hand assistant Justin Curran had their Oaks filly Meaning out before 6 a.m. EDT Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs under exercise rider Juan Alverez. The pair stood in the gate then galloped a mile and an eighth around the big oval.

Later during the Derby-Oaks training window between 7:15 and 7:30 they brought out their other Oaks runner, Brooklyn Blonde, for a tour around the big oval.

“It’s all going to plan,” said McCarthy.

Counting Stars, Search Party. Trainer Mark Casse’s two Kentucky Oaks hopefuls, Counting Stars and Search Party jogged in the mile chute and then galloped a mile and a half during the training window for Derby and Oaks horses.

Froylan Garcia was aboard Counting Stars, who comes into the Kentucky Oaks off a 5 1/2-length victory in the Fantasy (G2) at Oaklawn on March 27.

Prior to the Fantasy, she was second to Oaks rival Explora in the Honeybee (G3), which followed a last-place showing as the odds-on favorite in the Martha Washington.

“She didn’t show up one day at Keeneland (in her second start), and that was mind-boggling,” Casse said. “The Martha Washington, she had missed some training because of weather, and that affects horses in different ways.

“The good thing is, she is training well and she has shown up in her past two races.”

A daughter of Gun Runner, Search Party, who had Elver Vargas up Tuesday morning, gives owner Tracy Farmer and Casse their second Oaks starter in two years following Grade 1 winner La Cara.

“I trained her dam Devious Charm,” Casse said. “She was the first horse I bought for Mr. Farmer and the first day she tried to jump the round pen and got cut up and spent 30 days at a clinic. I thought, ‘Well, that’s a good start.’ ”

Devious Charm was stakes-placed in her 19-race career and earned nearly $180,000. Search Party is her second foal.

“I think she has more Gun Runner in her,” Casse said. 

Dazzling Dame. Dazzling Dame jogged a mile and galloped a mile with a pony Tuesday morning with trainer Brittany Russell looking on.

Russell, who went out on her own in 2018, will see her first Oaks starter exit post 7 in the 14-horse field.

“She will be the last one in the gate and that is fine with me,” Russell said of the speedy Girvin filly, who has won four of six starts and most recently was second in the Virginia Oaks to Bottle of Rouge.

Dazzling Dame has been going to the track at 7:15 each morning under Emma Wolfe. But before going to the track she is out of her stall and grazing behind barn 41.

“Yes, we have grass at Fair Hill (Training Center in Maryland),” Wolfe said of Dazzling Dame’s main base. “She gets five hours of turnout each day there. Here, she gets an hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon.”

Dazzling Dame completed her morning activity with a visit to the paddock after training hours. 

Explora. Initially trainer Bob Baffert had considered letting his Oaks filly Explora have a walk day, but then he “called an audible” and had Humberto Gomez take her out right at the end of the special training period.

“We went to the gate first,” the exercise rider noted, “and then we went for a little gallop of about a mile. She was just stretching her legs.”

Friday, Explora will come out of the no. 1 hole and have champion jockey Flavien Prat on her back.

Lovely Grey. Lovely Grey galloped Tuesday morning and was scheduled to school in the paddock during the second race for trainer Kelsey Danner. 

My Miss Mo. Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) runner-up My Miss Mo galloped at 7:15 a.m. for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.

Pashmina. Pashmina visited the paddock and then galloped a mile and a half under Jesse Sauter for trainer Rob Atras.

Pashmina started her career on the grass at Keeneland before winning her dirt debut by 10 3/4 lengths at Fair Grounds.

“Rob likes to start some of his horses on turf for a good day one experience,” Brittany Atras, assistant to her husband, said. “She didn’t run that bad (in her debut, splitting the field of 12).”

Percy's Bar. Ashland (GI) winner Percy’s Bar jogged two miles under Rene Morales for trainer Ben Colebrook.

“She will gallop in the morning, go to the gate and stand and go to the paddock,” Colebrook said.

Percy’s Bar won the Ashland over a track labeled as good, defeating Oaks morning-line favorite Zany in the process and becoming the only Oaks runner with an off-track victory. The only other Oaks starter with off-track experience is Lovely Grey, who was fifth in debut over a sloppy track at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

With a slight chance of rain in the Friday forecast for Oaks Day, “that’s a good stat to know,” Colebrook said.

Prom Queen. Prom Queen galloped with Katie Tolbert in the saddle, then schooled in the paddock after training.

Zany. The Kentucky Oaks morning-line favorite Zany went from barn 39 down to the big Churchill Downs oval for a gallop of just more than a mile under exercise rider Wilmer Hernandez during the training period for Derby and Oaks horses.

The chestnut daughter of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah has been a galloping winner of three of four lifetime starts and continued her Oaks preparedness by schooling in the paddock after Tuesday-morning training.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will give ace rider Irad Ortiz Jr. a leg up on the racy distaffer Friday then watch them break from post 2 in the nine-furlong classic, which will be the 13th and final offering on a card that kicks off a spectacular weekend of racing.