Ria Antonia jogged Wednesday at Churchill Downs during her return to the track after she
breezed a half-mile in :47 3/5 Monday morning over a sloppy track ahead of
Friday’s Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks.
The Rockport Harbor filly was transferred to trainer Bob Baffert’s care over the winter following her victory via disqualification in the Breeders’
Cup Juvenile Fillies
for New York trainer Jeremiah Englehart. In her lone start for
Baffert, she was second to Fashion Plate in the Santa Anita Oaks on April 5.
“She came to me in really great shape. I really can’t take
any credit for that,” Baffert said. “She won the Breeders’ Cup
and I’m trying to keep her at that level. It’s a very tough race.
There are some really good fillies in there, like Untapable and Rosalind.
It’s a strong field.
“Since I’ve had her, she’s probably doing the best. She seems to like the track. She just needs to get away from
the gate a little bit better than last time and just get in her
groove. She’s got a certain groove that she needs to be in. I put blinkers back
on here because I think she needs them. I tried without blinkers
last time and she wasn’t quite as aggressive as I wanted her, but she got
beat by a nice filly.”
Rosalind galloped 1 1/2 miles, starting from the eighth-pole and looping around the
Churchill Downs oval before finishing at the five-eighths pole. However, a
planned visit to the starting gate was abandoned when the Broken Vow
filly refused to cooperate.
“We pulled the plug on that,” trainer Kenny McPeek stated. “She just gets balky. After she pulls up from the gallop
she wants to come home. We want to take her to the gate but she wants to
go the other way.”
Regular exercise rider Danny Ramsey will attempt another gate visit Thursday, this time with an outrider alongside
to coax and educate.
“She’s done it a few races in a row and I’m not sure why she does it,” McPeek said.
“We haven’t quite figured it out
but as long as she’s doing everything else right…”
Rosalind’s antics didn’t seem to impact her effort last
time out, when she dead-heated for a seven-length win in Keeneland’s Ashland.
“She’s a quiet filly and she’s all class,” McPeek said. “The only trouble we
ever have with her is going to the gate.”
Rosalind schooled in the paddock during Wednesday’s 7TH race.
Untapable, the 4-5 morning line favorite for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks, visited
the starting gate Wednesday around 7:30 a.m. (EDT) and then enjoyed a light
three-quarter mile jog from the head of the stretch to the half-mile pole over
the muddy main track.
“Just looking to be very relaxed,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “Little bit sticky going this morning and just wanted
her to come back in and stay happy.”
Untapable schooled in the paddock during Tuesday’s 5TH race and never completely settled down.
“She’ll go back over there today,” Asmussen said. “Hopefully this will be it
for her.”
During the schooling session, Team Asmussen saddled the filly with the same Oaks saddle towel she’ll wear Friday,
as well as tack nearly identical to what jockey Rosie Napravnik will
use in the race.
“We do school with an elastic girth and a jock’s saddle,” Asmussen explained.
“If you’re going to school, you know,
simulate what’s going to happen.”
Untapable drew the outside post 13, a spot of debatable consequence.
“You don’t know if a draw’s good until after the race runs,” Asmussen said. “So many times you can think,
‘Oh,
that’s a perfect spot,’ for one when they draw, and then they get
eliminated at the start or they step back when they kick it (open the
gates) or just something of their own doing or something around them
affects them.
“If she’s away cleanly, finds herself a nice spot
going into the first turn, you can see how it’s ideal. If somebody blows
the turn and takes her into the parking lot, then it’s not the spot to be!”
Napravnik, an Oaks winner in 2012 (Believe You Can), has the return mount after piloting Untapable to a perfect
two-for two record in 2014 with dominant wins in the Rachel Alexandra and Fair
Grounds Oaks.
“I’ve been watching her train every morning and she looks just unbelievable,” Napravnik said.
“She’s doing everything
exactly the right way. She’s just always been improving since the
first race that she ran.”
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