Pure Fun, Rose to Gold take it easy on Oaks eve

Pure Fun, seen here on track Tuesday, didn’t let a busy morning at her barn disturb her beauty sleep (Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com)

Magdalena Racing’s Pure Fun could not have been more relaxed on the eve of
the Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks. The Hollywood Starlet winner was sound asleep in her
stall at Churchill Downs at about 8:30 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, even while Ken McPeek’s barn was buzzing with
activity after the trainer’s Kentucky Derby contenders came back from the track.

“She’ll snore sometimes,” said Peter Edwards, a partner in McPeek’s
Magdalena Racing syndicate headed by Ken McPeek and his wife, Sue McPeek. “She
loves to sleep. She had a good three-eighths down the lane yesterday, walked
today, and she’s good to go. Now it’s just a matter of dropping back and hoping
the speed takes over.”

Walking the shedrow the day before a race has always been part of Pure
Fun’s routine.

“She absolutely loves this track,” Edwards added. “She’ll be running at the end.
If someone gets out to an easy lead then so be it, it is what it is, but I have
to hope that two or three of them go together.”

Rose to Gold, pictured here from Tuesday, will not get in any more gallops ahead of her Oaks run (Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com)

“She went over with the horses in the first race yesterday and with
(Derby favorite) Orb, who was in the schooling stall next to her,” Santoro said.
“He must have gotten up on the wrong side of the stall or something because he
got agitated and was kicking the back of the stall. But she just stood there and
wasn’t bothered at all.”

Rose to Gold has been on or near the lead in the majority of her races and
Santoro was asked how he envisioned the Oaks unfolding Friday.

“We are going to have to see what the big three — Dreaming of
Julia, Beholder and Unlimited Budget — do,” he replied. “If any of them get
free rein and left alone, the party is over.

“Hopefully, going into the first turn we will get a good position.
Talking to people that have raced here for years, I know the track will be
lightning fast and you don’t want to be too far back. I can see a tight pack to
the head of the stretch and then have everybody fan out.”

Santoro was asked if he had scouted the opposition during morning
training hours.