Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Ria Antonia breezed a half-mile in :47
2/5 Monday morning at Churchill Downs immediately after the track reopened
following a violent thunderstorm.
Jockey Martin Garcia guided the filly through early fractions of :11 3/5 and
:23 1/5. She galloped out five furlongs in 1:00 and was timed in 1:13.60 for six
furlongs.
“She worked really well. I loved her work,” Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert
said. “Martin has been working her and he just loved the way she went over the
track. She’s going into the race stronger than she ever has. I was very happy
with the move.”
Rosalind, dead heat winner of the Ashland at Keeneland, jogged one mile and
galloped about 1 1/4 miles over the sloppy track at about 8:45 a.m. (EDT) with
exercise rider Danny Ramsey aboard.
“She’s handling it fine,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “She’s doing really
well. She’s steady as she goes.”
Rosalind has yet to win on a dirt track. In February, she was third despite
being steadied on the first turn in her three-year-old debut, an entry-level
allowance on dirt at Gulfstream Park. And last fall, in her initial try on dirt
in the Pocahontas at Churchill, she was stepping up into stakes company and
finished a solid third behind eventual Oaks favorite Untapable.
“I think in the long run she’s probably going to prefer turf or Poly but
she’s run well on the dirt,” McPeek said. “I think she needs it to set up for
her on the dirt, with some pace in the race, so they come back to her a little
bit.”
In other Kentucky Oaks news:
Fiftyshadesofgold was withdrawn from Kentucky Oaks consideration after
training hours Monday when Dennis “Peaches” Geier, assistant to trainer Bret
Calhoun, notified the Churchill Downs Racing Office that the filly would run in
the $175,000 Eight Belles on Friday.
“She will go in the Eight Belles and Mike Smith will ride her,” Calhoun said.
“The ownership is a little bit on the conservative side and they felt the Eight
Belles gave them the best shot to win.”
Trainer Doug O’Neill confirmed Monday morning that two-time winning Kentucky
Oaks rider Corey Nakatani would ride Empress of Midway in this Friday’s Kentucky
Oaks.
Nakatani, who won the 1991 running on Lite Light and the 1996 renewal on Pike
Place Dancer, never has ridden Empress of Midway.
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