Lady Eli Preparing for 2015 Debut

Brown is in the process of readying Lady Eli, undefeated winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), for a return to the races. The daughter of Divine Park, who has not run since her Breeders’ Cup victory, is on track to make her sophomore debut this spring.

“She’s breezing terrific,” Brown said. “Right now, the plan is to run her in the Appalachian (G3) at Keeneland on April 12.”

Despite running exclusively on turf, Lady Eli was runner-up for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s top 2-year-old filly of 2014. The filly turned in a bullet work on Feb. 24, breezing four furlongs in 48.75 seconds. The move was the fastest of 42 workers that morning.

“She did it as easy as can be,” Brown said. “Mechanically, she’s moving beautifully. I’m just hoping to see more of the same from her as we get closer to her 3-year-old debut.”

Brown identified the $1 million Belmont Oaks (G1) and the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) as major goals for the Champion during her sophomore season.

“Those are two really big targets that we have for her,” Brown said. “Hopefully if she stays healthy, she can show up in both of those races.”

Brown also noted that Remsen (G2) winner Leave the Light On, a candidate for the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth (G2) before injuring his right hind ankle during a January workout, is recovering well from surgery.

“Right now he’s at Dell Ridge Farm in Kentucky,” Brown said. “We’ll pick him up when we go back to Keeneland. Dr. [Larry] Bramlage performed the surgery on him, and according to his report, everything went as planned, and the prognosis is excellent. Fingers crossed, we’ll pick him up at Keeneland, and hopefully he’ll be a nice horse for us during the summer.”

Brown added that the timetable for the colt to return to the track was about two months after surgery.

“After surgery, they indicated that in 60 days he’d be fine to return to light training,” he said. “We’ll start him up there at Keeneland and kind of let the horse tell us when he’s ready to start breezing, but I’m optimistic that this horse can be back to the races by Saratoga.”

Cay Dancer Set for Second U.S. Start in Sunday Allowance
Highclere America and Robert Barnett’s Cay Dancer (GB), scratched from the Suwannee River (G3) on Feb. 7, is slated to return to Gulfstream in Sunday’s 11th race, a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance for older fillies and mares.

The 4-year-old daughter of Danehill Dancer (IRE) spiked a fever before the Suwannee River, leading to her defection from the stake.

“She’s since recovered,” trainer Chad Brown said. “She’s been training very well. It seems like a logical spot to get her back started. The distance might be a tad short for her, but she’s training quite well. We’ll see how she runs here and then build off of it. That’s the plan.”

Sunday’s race will be Cay Dancer’s second start in North America after debuting in the La Prevoyante (G3) on Dec. 27, when she endured a rough trip in the 1 ½-mile contest. After breaking slowly, she was fanned seven-wide wide entering the stretch and had to angle out again to make a bid in the center of the racetrack. She would finish ninth, 4 ½ lengths behind Irish Mission.

“The trip was very frustrating,” Brown said. “She did get a very wide trip. I thought she ran well despite all that, and now she’s had a bit of a break in between starts.”

Cay Dancer joined Brown’s string last summer after making 11 starts in Europe, including three wins at distances spanning from 7 furlongs to 1 ¼ miles. She has trained consistently at Gulfstream’s satellite training facility Palm Meadows, most recently breezing four furlongs in 48.70 seconds over the facility’s turf course on Tuesday.

“Her breezes have been very good the past couple of weeks,” Brown said. “I would expect her to run well.”

Cay Dancer is scheduled to break from the far outside in Post 10 Sunday and is slated to be ridden for the first time by John Velazquez.

Source: Gulfstream Park Notes