Trainer Richard Mandella sent his juvenile champion filly Beholder through a
1 3/8-mile gallop Thursday morning at Churchill Downs, her
last serious bit of training prior to her start Friday in the Grade 1, $1
million Kentucky Oaks.
The bay daughter of Henny Hughes went through her paces during the special Derby/Oaks training at
Churchill under jockey-turned-exercise rider David Nuesch, then
returned to her temporary home in Barn 45.
Prior to the exercise, Mandella, the Hall of Fame trainer who will be
seeking his first victory in the Run for the Lilies, played host to a contingent
of visitors that included University of Louisville football coach Charlie
Strong and New England Patriots all-pro defensive lineman Vince Wilfork.
The
conditioner also fielded a few questions about his ace filly and her Oaks run.
“Well, I remember last year it was a question of whether she could get
six furlongs. And she did,” he said when asked about her ability to getting the
nine-furlong distance. “And she got far enough in the Breeders’ Cup (mile and
one-sixteenth). Every time I’ve asked her to do something, she’s done it. I
really don’t think the mile and an eighth is going to make that big a
difference. And, you know, I wouldn’t trade her for any of the others.”
Jockey Garrett Gomez has ridden Beholder in all eight of her starts thus far
and won’t be getting any instructions from Mandella on Friday.
“I won’t have to say much to him,” Mandella remarked. “He knows her;
he’s been on her in the afternoons and he’s breezed her some in the mornings. He
also knows how I think. We won’t need to have any long conversations.”
Beholder wrapped up her pre-race exercise on Thursday, though she might still
get on the track Friday morning.
“I might walk her with a rider up around the barn, or I might put her
out for a short gallop during the special time (5:45-6 a.m. [EDT]) for Oaks and Derby
horses tomorrow,” Mandella explained. “I’ll play it by ear and decide in the morning.”
Beholder is slated to break from post 3 in the 10-horse Oaks field as the 7-2
co-second-choice.
Also getting in a final gallop on Friday was undefeated Close Hatches,
who posted her final contained gallop during the Oaks and Derby training session with
regular exercise rider Joanna Trout aboard.
With Bill Mott stablemate Flashy Gray officially declared from the Oaks,
the outside filly Close Hatches will move in one stall in the starting gate and
break from post 10.
“If we had a choice we would probably take somewhere in the middle but Ron
Anderson said he’s delighted with it,” said Juddmonte farm
manager Garrett O’Rourke, referring to jockey Joel Rosario’s agent. “He’s
probably spinning a little bit of positive into it, but you can sit outside of
them and watch them.
“I heard Joel say that if they didn’t want to go (to establish the early lead)
he would go, but I think that’s an unlikely scenario given
that Beholder and Midnight Lucky drew inside. I can’t see them taking back.
“The worst-case scenario is that everyone has the same idea and then we all get
hung wide on the outside but hopefully that won’t happen.”
One piece of conventional wisdom regarding the Oaks and Derby is that
the eventual winners can’t have any hiccups in the weeks leading up to their
races. Count Close Hatches among those that have had zero issues.
“Everything is a go and we’re very happy with her,” O’Rourke said.
“Everything so far has gone very smoothly with her preparation. She’s training
well, she’s sound, she’s happy, she’s aggressive and she’s ready for action.”
Three of
trainer Todd Pletcher’s four Oaks fillies were out with the conditoner’s first set at 6
a.m. Thursday morning, each galloping well for their regular exercise riders
on the day before their dates in the $1 million event.
The fourth — unbeaten Unlimited Budget — was held back until the
special 8:30-8:45 training session at Churchill Downs for Derby and Oaks
runners. Owner Mike Repole had asked that his filly go late in order for him to
be able to take in the drill, so instead of sending out his five Derby colts at
8:30 as-per-usual, Pletcher sent one of them — Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Charming Kitten
—
out with the fillies early and Unlimited Budget with the colts late.
Unlimited Budget, most recently the heroine of the Fair Ground Oaks, was
sent 1 3/8 miles by Patti Krotenko, stretching out from the finish
line to the five-eighths pole. The dark bay daughter of Street Sense did it in
stylish fashion.
Earlier, the trio of Dreaming of Julia (with Humberto
Zamora up), Princess of Sylmar (Jake Nelson) and Silsita (Obed Perez) had
galloped on the illuminated racetrack just as a bright red glow began to fill up
the sky to the east of the historic Churchill grounds.
Pletcher said he will not put his Oaks fillies on the racetrack Friday
morning.
Fellow undefeated Midnight
Lucky galloped after the renovation break Thursday with exercise rider Jorge Alvarez up
for trainer Bob Baffert. The gray filly won in her first try against maidens and
rolled to a decisive track record-setting win in the Sunland Park Oaks.
“We knew she was going to be a nice filly,” co-owner Mike Pegram said. “As a
two-year-old she had some trouble; that’s the reason she did not run.
“She’s from the family of Hookedonthefeelin, Jimmy Creed and Pussycat
Doll. None of those horses wanted to stretch out, but probably the real surprise
when you look at this horse is how stretchy she is and how she trains. She
showed them at Sunland that distance wasn’t going to a limitation. The biggest
surprise is how well she’s handled the added distance.”
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com