Joseph sends two fresh faces in the Apple Blossom Handicap
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will saddle two relatively new faces to his barn in a well-drawn edition of the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
Cookie Dough, who won her first graded stakes race in her debut effort for Jopeph, and Queen Nekia, who finished third behind Cookie Dough in that Royal Delta Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park, are among a field of 14 older fillies and mares entered.
The Feb. 15 Royal Delta, contested on a sloppy main track, featured a compact but very talented field, including the likes of graded stakes winners Coach Rocks and Restless Rider.
Cookie Dough looks to remain perfect since joining Joseph after leaving the barn of Stan Gold, who has retired from training. Owned by Arindel (the racing operation of Alan Cohen), Cookie Dough had previously been trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.
“I had a couple of horses with Arindel in the previous year, and they transferred her to us," Joseph said. "She came into our barn with a track record that was proven. She was already a good filly. We just hoped that we could maintain her.”
Now a three-time winner in 13 career starts, the speedy Cookie Dough, a daughter of Brethren, hit the board in all but one of her six previous graded stakes races before breaking through in the Royal Delta.
“She ran big for us the first time we ran her. She got her first graded stakes as she deserves,” Joseph said of Cookie Dough. “She’s our better shot in this race. There’s a lot of speed and it’s a tough race. It’s come up as tough as you can ask a Grade 1 to come up.”
Cookie Dough is expected to be joined on the front end Saturday by, among others, Serengeti Empress. Come Dancing, a Grade 1 winner around one turn, will go around two for the first time as well in a stacked field for the division.
Queen Nekia will be making her third start for Joseph following her first graded stakes-placed performance. She also won in her debut for the barn two back when she scored following a claim in December.
“We got a little ambitious with her, and she ran surprisingly (well) in the Royal Delta. She was third, beaten just by three quarters of a length by Cookie Dough,” Joseph said, after an off-the-pace effort that could similarly serve her well in the Apple Blossom. “That’s one of the reasons we’re giving her a chance. There’s nothing really for her at Gulfstream Park.”
A 5-year-old daughter of sire Harlington out of multiple stakes winner All Night Labor, Queen Nekia has won eight times in 24 career starts. She has been putting in solid breezes since her third-place finish in the Royal Delta, including a bullet four-furlong work at Gulfstream Park on March 29.
“We know the deck is stacked against Queen Nekia, as far as odds go. But the way she has trained, you never know,” Joseph said.
Queen Nekia drew post No. 7 and will have jockey David Cohen aboard. Cookie Dough will break from the No. 10 post with Abel Cedillo in the irons.