BE FAIR (Exchange Rate) worked five furlongs in 1:00 1/5 over Churchill
Downs’ fast main track on Sunday, gearing up for her tilt at Friday’s Kentucky
Oaks (G1). With exercise rider Omar Golon aboard, the dark bay lass recorded her
move, which was the fourth-fastest of 24 at the distance, shortly after the
track opened.
“She went just perfect,” said trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who is a four-time
winner of the Kentucky Oaks. “Have you ever heard a trainer not like a horse’s
work?”
Be Fair will be seeking her first stakes win in the Oaks, having run fourth
in the Ashland S. (G1) and Honeybee S. (G3) in her prior two races.
GABBY’S GOLDEN GAL (Medaglia d’Oro), the lightly raced 13-length winner of
the Sunland Park Oaks, had her final major move for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks at
Churchill when she posted five furlongs in 1:00 3/5 shortly after the renovation
break.
With trainer Bob Baffert taking it in from the track’s grandstand, the dark
bay miss had former rider Joe Steiner in the tack as she went generously through
the drill.
The thoughtful Steiner gave the move a literal and figurative thumbs up.
“She just cruised around there for me,” he said. “And she galloped out
strong. I said ‘OK, that’s good,’ when we finished up. She’s just a little
thing, but she feels big under you.
“She’s coming up to it right; doing all she can do. She’ll be hooking into a
tough one (solid favorite Rachel Alexandra [Medaglia d’Oro]), but she’s going to
be ready to do her part. Sometimes it’s just a matter of being ready and getting
lucky.”
Victor Espinoza has the call on Gabby’s Golden Gal for the nine-furlong Oaks.