Fondly put in a work from the starting gate. (Courtney Snow/Past The Wire)
Gallops, Gate Schooling, Paddock Schooling, Final Touches for the Kentucky Oaks
Kentucky Oaks Update
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fillies were out putting in final gallops during the 7:15-7:30 (all times Eastern) training period reserved for Kentucky Derby and Oaks entrants.
Good Cheer, the 6-5 morning-line Oaks favorite, galloped in blinkers. Fondly visited the starting gate in the mile chute and then galloped a mile and a half while La Cara jogged a mile early Tuesday morning.
Quickick galloped a mile and a half and was scheduled to school in the paddock Tuesday afternoon with horses in the seventh race.
Quietside galloped accompanied to the track by the John Ortiz-trained Barber Road, who finished sixth in the 2022 Kentucky Derby.
ANNA’S PROMISE – PP #12 – MLO 30-1
Bell Racing’s Anna’s Promise galloped at 7:15 for trainer Carlos David.
BALLERINA D’ORO – PP #6 – MLO 10-1
Rodeo Creek Racing’s Ballerina d’Oro galloped at 7:15 under Kriss Bon for trainer Chad Brown.
BLESS THE BROKEN – PP #13 – MLO 30-1
Cypress Creek Equine and Madaket Stables’ Bless the Broken galloped a mile and half under Genis Bracho at 7:15 for trainer Will Walden and was scheduled for a paddock schooling session Tuesday afternoon with horses in the second race.
Son of Classic-winning trainer Elliott Walden, Will Walden has been training for four years after starting with a small string at Keeneland. In that string was a filly Walden thought might get him to the Oaks.
“I thought I might have been here two years ago with T Max,” Walden said. “She ran second to Tom Amoss’ good filly (Hoosier Philly) in the Rags to Riches here in the fall of 2022.”
Elliott Walden came close in the Derby twice with runner-up finishes by Victory Gallop in 1998 and Menifee in 1999.
“He told me to be decisive and makes sound decisions,” Will Walden said of training advice from his father.
DREXEL HILL – PP #4 – MLO 30-1; SIMPLY JOKING – PP #2 – MLO 10-1
Trainer Whit Beckman’s Kentucky Oaks duo both galloped early under Maurilio Garcia.
First out at 5:30 was Grantley Acres, Ryan Conner and Berkels0813’s Simply Joking withLegion Racing’s Drexel Hill following soon after.
Both fillies then schooled in the paddock after training.
FIVE G – PP #8 – MLO 12-1
Gatsas Stables’ Five G galloped a mile and a half during the 7:15-7:30 training period under Raul Alejandro for trainer George Weaver.
Winner of the Gulfstream Park Oaks (GII) in her most recent start, Five G will be ridden by Manny Franco.
In 2015, Weaver and Franco made their Kentucky Derby debuts with Tencendur with Franco was 20 and just in his third year of riding.
“He’s a very capable rider and I was using him before he really got popular and his career has just kept going up,” Weaver said. “He ended up on her at Gulfstream Park and got a chance to know her. She ran her best numbers.”
FONDLY – PP #3 – MLO 20-1
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Madaket Stables’ Fondly visited the starting gate in the mile chute and then galloped a mile and a half under William Humphrey for trainer Graham Motion.
GOOD CHEER – PP #11 – MLO 6/5
Godolphin’s Good Cheer, the 6-5 morning-line favorite for Kentucky Oaks 151, galloped in blinkers at 7:15 under Katie Tolbert for trainer Brad Cox.
LA CARA – PP #7 – MLO 6-1
Tracy Farmer’s La Cara jogged a mile early Tuesday morning under Kevin Donnis for trainer Mark Casse.
“She is high energy, and we want to tamp that down a bit, so we will probably keep doing that (going out early during the week),” Casse said.
Farmer also bred La Cara and he and Casse teamed up with another homebred to win the 2019 Belmont Stakes (GI) with Sir Winston.
“He is pumped up (about La Cara),” Casse said. “More pumped than he was before the Belmont.”
La Cara was scheduled to school in the paddock with horses in Tuesday afternoon’s third race.
QUICKICK – PP #5 – MLO 30-1
Greenwell Thoroughbreds’ Quickick galloped a mile and a half at 7:15 under Rafael Rustrian for trainer Tom Amoss and was scheduled to school in the paddock Tuesday afternoon with horses in the seventh race.
Fourth in the Fair Grounds Oaks (GII) in her most recent start, Quickick will be ridden by Umberto Rispoli for the first time in Friday’s Oaks.
“She is really going to have to improve but there are a couple of things that are giving me confidence,” said Amoss, who saddled Serengeti Empress to victory in the 2019 Oaks.
“She has really blossomed up here. At the Fair Grounds, she was quiet and stayed in the back of her stall but up here her coat and weight have improved.
“I like what I have seen from her,” Amoss added of the filly who has had four five-eighths work over the track here since the Fair Grounds Oaks. “She can’t give them a head start. We have been working on that to fall into a better position and not be in a different ZIP code.”
QUIETSIDE – PP #14 – MLO 8-1
Shortleaf Stable’s Quietside galloped at 7:15 under Daniel Ortiz for trainer John Ortiz.
The Fantasy (GII) and Honeybee (GIII) winner was accompanied to the track by the John Ortiz-trained Barber Road, who finished sixth in the 2022 Kentucky Derby.
TENMA – PP #9 – MLO 12-1
The Kentucky Oaks filly Tenma got to work early Tuesday morning, heading trackside for a gallop just when Churchill opened for horse business at 5:15. Exercise rider Eric Garcia was at the controls, and they took a full tour – and a little bit more – around the big oval.
The Bob Baffert-trained miss will be partnered by her regular guy, Juan Hernandez, come Friday and the 151st edition of the famed Kentucky Oaks. They’ll break from Post 9 in the 14-horse lineup as they begin their nine-furlong test in front of a crowd that is expected to surpass 100,000.
Kentucky Derby, Oaks Morning Workouts Open To The Public Through Wednesday
Continuing through Wednesday, Churchill Downs will be open free-of-charge daily from 6:45-10 a.m. so guests can watch the nation’s top 3-year-old Thoroughbreds train toward their engagements in this year’s Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks during Dawn at the Downs.
Horses train on Churchill Downs’ main track daily from 5:15-10 a.m. There is an exclusive training window only for Derby and Oaks participants from 7:15-7:30 a.m. following the 6:45-7:15 a.m. renovation break. Those horses will be identified by special saddle towels that include their names: yellow saddle towels for Derby horses and pink saddle towels for Oaks contenders.
Guests can park for free in the Yellow Lot off Longfield Ave. (all vehicles must be removed by 10:30 a.m.) and enter Churchill Downs through the Clubhouse Gate. Guests will be directed to Sections 115-117 to watch the morning workouts.
Churchill Downs’ Paddock Grill will be open each morning with coffee and breakfast sandwich options. No outside food and beverages are allowed. Also, the Churchill Downs Store with Kentucky Derby 151 merchandise will be open each morning.
A stream of the workouts is available at www.KentuckyDerby.com from 6:45-7:45 a.m. through May 1
Morning Works Show Offers Behind-The-Scenes Access To Derby, Oaks Training
The Kentucky Derby Morning Workouts Show presented by TwinSpires.com will air until Thursday and offer fans an exclusive look at the final preparations of Kentucky Derby and Oaks contenders.
Airing daily from 6:45-7:45 a.m, the one-hour program will be streamed live on the Kentucky Derby Facebook, X and YouTube accounts. The show will highlight the 15-minute exclusive training window from 7:15-7:30 a.m. for horses preparing for the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade I) and the $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI).
Hosted by Churchill Downs’ expert handicappers Joe Kristufek, Kaitlin Free, Tony Calo and Kevin Kilroy, the show will include insight, commentary and exclusive interviews from notable figures such as former leading rider Rosie Napravnik, Churchill Downs track announcer Travis Stone, TwinSpires.com handicapper James Scully and Churchill Downs racing analyst Megan Burgess.
All Kentucky Derby and Oaks contenders are required to be on-site by Saturday, April 26. The show will continue through Thursday, May 1, showcasing every contender’s final training sessions leading into Kentucky Derby and Longines Kentucky Oaks.
For more information, visit www.kentuckyderby.com
