Keeneland April 9 Barn Notes

By Amy Owens —-

Keeneland’s 15-day Spring Meet runs through Friday, April 28, with racing
on Wednesdays through Sundays. Post time for the first race each day
is 1:05 p.m. ET. Keeneland will be closed on Easter Sunday, April 16.

• TOYOTA BLUE GRASS WINNER IRAP STAYING PUT FOR A WHILE
• KENNEALLY HAS EYE ON KENTUCKY OAKS FOR SAILOR’S VALENTINE
• BREEDERS’ CUP WINNER NEW MONEY HONEY HEADS FIELD OF 12 FOR APPALACHIAN
• TOM LEACH INTERVIEWS TRAINER GRAHAM MOTION
• LADY ELI WORKS ON TURF FOR COOLMORE JENNY WILEY
• CASSE STAKES WINNERS RETURN TO CHURCHILL DOWNS
• LOUISVILLE NEXT STOP FOR MADISON WINNER PAULASSILVERLINING
• LEPAROUX RECALLS PRE-TOYOTA BLUE GRASS TRAINING SESSION ON IRAP
• 2017 SPRING MEET SPECIAL EVENTS

TOYOTA BLUE GRASS WINNER IRAP STAYING PUT FOR A WHILE

The Irap Traveling Show will remain at Keeneland for the time being.

“He will stay at Keeneland and probably do the Nyquist thing and go to Churchill Downs the week of the Kentucky Derby,” said Jack Sisterson, who assisted in the preparation of Irap for his maiden-breaking score in Saturday’s Toyota Blue Grass (G2). “It seems like every time (trainer) Doug (O’Neill) has brought a horse here from California, they have thrived.”

Last year, champion Nyquist shipped directly to Keeneland after a victory in the Florida Derby (G1) and trained here for almost a month before shipping to Louisville and winning the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

Nyquist, like Irap owned by Reddam Racing, had all of his pre-Derby works here. Sisterson thinks Irap will follow a similar plan.

“I don’t think any of Doug’s Derby horses in the past have had their final works at Churchill,” Sisterson said before leaving town for Europe.

By text, O’Neill said he was not sure when he would come to Keeneland. Last year, he made several trips back and forth from his Santa Anita base to Keeneland before spending the final couple of weeks in Kentucky.

So, for now, Irap will be cared for by exercise rider Antonio Romero and groom Fernel Serrano.
As a team, they have been on the road for three weeks now, first with a week’s stay at Sunland Park in New Mexico for the March 26 Sunland Derby, and then on to Keeneland.

“We got pretty excited yesterday,” Romero said. “Julien (Leparoux) rode him perfectly.”

Trainer Chad Brown said Toyota Blue Grass runner-up Practical Joke came out of the race well.

“Practical Joke ran terrific,” Brown said. “He had a little bit of a wide trip but really ran well. I was encouraged to see him in a two-turn race with a sustained run, making up ground in the lane, not losing ground. He gives me some optimism to keep going forward towards the Derby.”

Brown said Practical Joke would remain at Keeneland for the time being until he determines when to send the colt to Churchill.

Beaten favorite McCraken jogged once around the main track at 6 a.m. on Sunday with exercise Yoni Orantes aboard. Trainer Ian Wilkes plans to van McCraken to Churchill Downs Monday.

McCraken finished third, beaten 3¾ lengths and recorded the first defeat in his five-race career.
“I thought he was too fresh and too much on the bit and that is where missing that race (the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 11) showed up,” Wilkes said. “He was a little too keen.”

Wilkes was the exercise rider for 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled and the assistant to Carl Nafzger for 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, both of whom lost in the Toyota Blue Grass.
“I told Carl last night that I couldn’t get that ‘Nafzger Blue Grass Monkey’ off my back,” Wilkes said with a laugh. “I wanted to get a good race and I was very pleased with the race. He didn’t back down. He didn’t quit. You want to see what happens when he gets in against the big boys and he pushed back. We wanted to win, but maybe he learned something yesterday.”

Wilkes was asked if he was disappointed McCraken finished behind a maiden.

“That doesn’t matter. They all have a chance to beat you,” Wilkes said. “It got the monkey off my back of being undefeated. That adds a little pressure. Now that that is over, you can concentrate on getting the job done.”

While McCraken will be heading to Churchill Downs, fifth-place finisher Tapwrit figures to remain at Keeneland for the time being.

“He is good this morning and will stay here for a while,” said Ginny DePasquale, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher. “He may go over to Churchill Downs; I don’t envision him going back to Florida.”

Tapwrit has accumulated 54 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and is one of five Pletcher runners in the top 20, the maximum number of starters for the Run for the Roses.

“He just didn’t show up yesterday,” DePasquale said. “He was totally different compared to Tampa where he was on the muscle (before winning the Tampa Bay Derby).”

Calumet Farm’s Wild Shot, who set the pace before finishing last of seven, was fine Sunday morning, according to trainer Rusty Arnold.

“Nothing went right yesterday,” Arnold said. “He was terrible in the paddock and he may have run three races in there which is surprising because he had never done that before. He didn’t handle the crowd.
“Soundness wise, he’s fine. We will regroup and talk with the Calumet people. The ($250,000) Pat Day Mile (G3 on May 6) is an option.”

KENNEALLY HAS EYE ON KENTUCKY OAKS FOR SAILOR’S VALENTINE

Trainer Eddie Kenneally said Sunday morning that Central Bank Ashland (G1) winner Sailor’s Valentine, who won the $500,000 race by a half-length at odds of 22-1 will be aimed at the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs on May 5. With the 100 points she earned for winning Saturday’s race, Sailor’s Valentine has a guaranteed spot in the race.

“We will look at the Kentucky Oaks, but we are going to leave her at Keeneland for a while,” Kenneally said. “Not really sure how long she will stay here. We might leave before the end of the meet so we can breeze her at Churchill. That is the plan if everything continues to go well.”

A graduate of Keeneland’s 2015 September Yearling Sale, Sailor’s Valentine is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Mizzen Mast. She has earned $359,214 with a record of 6-2-2-0 for Semaphore Racing and Homewrecker Racing.

“The Ashland set up perfectly and she got a great ride from Corey Lanerie,” Kenneally said. “She breezed really well before the race so we had to take a shot. Everything came together perfectly.”
Normandy Farm’s late-charging Daddys Lil Darling was second.

“She came back well. She ate up last night, and she was bouncing around this morning,” said Alan Shell, assistant to trainer Kenny McPeek, about Daddys Lil Darling, a Grade 2 winner last year. Shell expected McPeek to make a decision in the coming days about whether Daddys Lil Darling’s immediate future would include a start in the Oaks.

Trainer Will VanMeter reported that Tommy Ligon’s Someday Soon, who finished third at odds of 21-1, exited the Central Bank Ashland in great condition but likely would bypass the Oaks. With 20 points, she is 15th on the list of leading point earners for the Oaks, which is limited to 14 starters.

VanMeter has year-round stalls in Keeneland’s Rice Road barn area with amenities that include small turnout pens where Someday Soon spent part of Sunday morning.
She was bucking and squealing when we turned her out,” he said. “But we probably won’t run in the Oaks unless there are some major defections. We’ll keep our options open.”

The Mark Casse-trained duo of Summer Luck and Pretty City Dancer, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively, vanned to Churchill Downs Saturday night to rejoin the Casse string in Louisville.
“That was not one of their better performances,” Casse said. “I’ll probably send one, Pretty City Dancer, to the ($200,000) Eight Belles (G2, at 7 furlongs on May 5), and Summer Luck, I’d like to try her in the (Kentucky) Oaks because she had no pace to run into yesterday. But, I don’t think she’ll have enough points to get in.”

Summer Luck stands 21st on the Oaks list with 11 points. Two more Oaks qualifying races remain including this afternoon’s Adena Springs Beaumont (G3) here.

BREEDERS’ CUP WINNER NEW MONEY HONEY HEADS FIELD
OF 12 FOR APPALACHIAN

New Money Honey, last seen winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) in November at Santa Anita, heads a field of 12 3-year-old fillies and one also-eligible entered Sunday for the 29th running of the $125,000 Appalachian (G3) Presented by Japan Racing Association.

The Appalachian will go as the eighth race on Thursday’s nine-race program with a 4:57 p.m. ET post time. First post time Thursday is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Chad Brown and owned by e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, New Money Honey will be ridden by regular partner Javier Castellano and break from post position four.

Three of the fillies who chased New Money Honey at Santa Anita will tackle the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro in her season debut.

Treadway Racing Stable’s Coasted will take her third shot at New Money Honey. Trained by Leah Gyarmati, Coasted finished third behind New Money Honey in the Miss Grillo (G3) prior to the Breeders’ Cup.

Second to fellow Appalachian rival Dream Dancing in the Herecomesthebride (G3) in her lone 2017 start, Coasted will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. and break from post position six.

Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider’s Lull, who set the pace in the Breeders’ Cup before finishing fourth, will be making her 2017 debut. Trained by Christophe Clement, Lull finished second here last fall in the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3). Jose Ortiz has the mount on Lull and will break from post position 10.

John Oxley’s La Coronel, who finished sixth as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup, was second in the Florida Oaks (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs on March 11 in her 2017 debut. Winner of the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine, La Coronel is trained by Mark Casse and will be ridden by Florent Geroux. La Coronel will exit post position two.

The field for the Appalachian, from the inside out, is: Dream Dancing (Julien Leparoux, 120 pounds), La Coronel (Geroux, 120), Proctor’s Ledge (Corey Lanerie, 118), New Money Honey (Castellano, 123), Bellavais (John Velazquez, 118), Coasted (Ortiz Jr., 118), Journey Home (Trevor McCarthy, 120), Like a Hurricane (Declan Cannon, 118), Dynatail (Orlando Bocachica, 120), Lull (Ortiz, 118), Morticia (Jose Lezcano, 118) and Purely a Dream (Robby Albarado, 118). Also-eligible: Ghostly Presence (Joel Rosario, 120).

TOM LEACH INTERVIEWS TRAINER GRAHAM MOTION

Keeneland Racing Analyst Tom Leach, the “Voice of the Wildcats” for University of Kentucky football and men’s basketball, interviews trainer Graham Motion about Dancing Rags, who is running in today’s Adena Springs Beaumont (G1), and Journey Home, entered in Thursday’s Appalachian (G3) Presented by Japan Racing Association.

LADY ELI WORKS ON TURF FOR COOLMORE JENNY WILEY

Scheduled to make her 5-year-old debut in Saturday’s Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1) at Keeneland, Sheep Pond Partners’ Lady Eli worked five furlongs in 1:02.40 on a firm turf course Sunday morning. With exercise rider Walter Malasquez aboard, she worked in company with Roca Rojo (IRE) and Florent Geroux.
Keeneland clockers caught Lady Eli in fractions of :14, :26.80, :38.80, 1:02.40 and out in 1:15.60. (Click here for a video of the work.)
Trainer Chad Brown was pleased.

“She’s been training so well in South Florida, I just wanted her to have a recent breeze over the turf course,” Brown said. “She hasn’t run on it since she was 3 (and won the Grade 3 Appalachian Presented by Japan Racing Association). Every course is a little different. I took advantage of the opportunity to get on the turf course and let her get her footing on it.”

Lady Eli won the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) as part of a six-race win streak to open her career. She then was sidelined for a year because of laminitis. The filly recovered and returned to competition in August 2016, running second in the Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa (G2) at Saratoga. She next won the Flower Bowl (G1) at Belmont and was second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) at Santa Anita.

Brown said Roca Rojo, owned by Sheep Pond Partners with Newport Stables and Bradley Thoroughbreds, would not compete in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley unless the course was soft. She is being pointed at the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile (G2) on Kentucky Derby Day.

In addition to Lady Eli, two other expected starters in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley worked over the turf.
Gary Barber, Michael James Ambler and Windways Farm’s multiple graded stakes winner Catch a Glimpse covered a half-mile in :50.40 with the final quarter-mile in :23.20 for trainer Mark Casse. (Click here for a video of the work.)

Working right behind her was the Phillips Racing Partnership’s Time and Motion, who covered a half-mile in :52.40 with jockey Jose Ortiz aboard. Fractions on the move were :14.20, :28.40 with the last quarter-mile in :24 flat. (Click here for a video of the work.)

“We wanted an easy work, because her last work was (5 furlongs) a :58 (at Palm Meadows in Florida),” said Tiffany Webb, assistant to trainer James Toner. “She galloped out nicely.”

Time and Motion won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Lane’s End (G1) here last fall.
Other works of note with the races the horses are pointing to include: Heart to Heart (Maker’s 46 Mile), 4 furlongs in :49.80, out five-eighths in 1:02.60;Lady Aurelia (Giant’s Causeway), 5 furlongs in :59 with fractions of :11.80, :23.80, :35.80, :59 and out 6 furlongs in 1:14.40; Coasted (Giant’s Causeway), 4 furlongs in :52.20; and, Purely a Dream (Appalachian), 5 furlongs in 1:04.60.

CASSE STAKES WINNERS RETURN TO CHURCHILL DOWNS

Live Oak Plantation’s two homebred graded stakes winners on Saturday – Awesome Slew (Commonwealth-G3) and Holding Gold (Shakertown-G2) – returned to Churchill Downs Saturday night.

The two colts also gave trainer Mark Casse and jockey Joel Rosario a stakes double.

Casse indicated after the Commonwealth that the $400,000 Alysheba (G2) at a mile and a sixteenth on May 5 or the $500,000 Churchill Downs (G2) at 7 furlongs on May 6 could be next for Awesome Slew.
A possible Derby Weekend spot for Holding Gold could be the $150,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G3) at 5 furlongs on May 5.

Awesome Slew defeated favored A. P. Indian by 1½ lengths with Limousine Liberal finishing another two lengths back in third.

“The winner was impressive,” A. P. Indian’s trainer, Arnaud Delacour, said of Awesome Slew. “We put away all the others and then he got us. I would doubt we’d go (to the Churchill Downs). After a race like that, I’d like to give him some time off.”

Ben Colebrook, trainer of Limousine Liberal, said his charge got tired in his 2017 debut and is considered doubtful for the Churchill Downs.

Holding Gold defeated Green Mask by a neck in the 5½-furlong Shakertown, and trainer Brad Cox said the plan is to move Green Mask on to the Twin Spires Turf Sprint at 5 furlongs.

LOUISVILLE NEXT STOP FOR MADISON WINNER PAULASSILVERLINING

Paulassilverlining will be headed to Churchill Downs and the $300,000 Humana Distaff (G1) on May 6 Kentucky Derby Day after her neck victory in Saturday’s Madison (G1) as the 9-5 favorite. The race marked her debut for new owner Juddmonte Farms and trainer Chad Brown.

“Paulassilverlining showed a lot of heart and determination,” Brown said Sunday about the 4-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper. “First time after a barn change and just shipping in from New York; she had been there all winter. She overcame a lot yesterday. She’s tough as nails. We’re real lucky to have her.”

Previously trained by Michelle Nevin for breeder-owner Vincent S. Scuderi, Paulassilverlining now has nine wins, including seven stakes wins, in 19 starts and earnings of $1,188,950.

LEPAROUX RECALLS PRE-TOYOTA BLUE GRASS TRAINING SESSION ON IRAP

When Reddam Racing’s Irap won yesterday’s $1 million Toyota Blue Grass (G2), he became the first maiden to win Keeneland’s most famous race. In addition, Irap was one of three winners on the 11-race card for his jockey, Julien Leparoux, and he became the jockey’s second Toyota Blue Grass winner, joining Java’s War in 2013.

The Toyota Blue Grass marked Leparoux’s first race aboard Irap, but not his first time to ride the Tiznow colt. On Wednesday morning, Leparoux was aboard Irap for a mile gallop for trainer Doug O’Neill.

Although top-level jockeys routinely breeze horses in the mornings, they rarely ride them during their slower exercises.

“He was very professional,” Leparoux said about his opinion of Irap from that morning introduction. “It was relaxed. I was very confident that if I broke good, he wasn’t going to be rank or anything like that. The race set up perfect.”

Wednesday’s exercise gave Leparoux confidence about yesterday’s race.

“I felt I knew him, so I felt I could get away from the gate and ask him for a little bit more and he would relax,” he said. “The plan went perfect.”

Leparoux has ridden several Kentucky Derby (G1) hopefuls this year. On Saturday, he will be aboard champion Classic Empire in Saturday’s Arkansas Derby (G1).

“I also have State of Honor, who was second in the Florida Derby (G1),” Leparoux said. “We will … see how Classic Empire runs. It’s a very exciting part of the year, so we’ll hope everything goes good and Classic Empire runs his race and then we will have to make a decision.”

PROBABLE STARTERS FOR UPCOMING STAKES
$300,000 MAKER’S 46 MILE (G1) (Entries taken Tuesday, April 11; race Friday April 14) – American Patriot (Todd Pletcher), Bal a Bali (BRZ) (Richard Mandella), Blacktype (FR) (Christophe Clement), Bondurant (Ian Wilkes), Heart to Heart (Brian Lynch), Inspector Lynley (Shug McGaughey), One Mean Man (Bernie Flint), What a View (Kenny Black). Possibles: Bolo (Carla Gaines), Calculator (Peter Miller), Conquest Enforcer (Jeff Radosevich).
$350,000 COOLMORE JENNY WILEY (G1) (Entries taken Wednesday, April 12; race Saturday, April 15) – Catch a Glimpse (Mark Casse), Dickinson (Kiaran McLaughlin), Goodyearforroses (IRE) (Richard Baltas), Illuminant (Michael McCarthy), Kitten’s Roar (Mike Maker), Lady Eli (Chad Brown), Quidura (GB) (Graham Motion), Time and Motion (James Toner).
$200,000 STONESTREET LEXINGTON (G3) (Entries taken Wednesday, April 12; race Saturday, April 15) – Convict Pike (Rusty Arnold), No Dozing (Arnaud Delacour), Resiliency (Steve Asmussen), Souper Tapit (Mark Casse), Tiz a Slam (Roger Attfield). Possible: Time to Travel (Michael Matz).
$200,000 BEN ALI (G3) (Entries taken Wednesday, April 12; race Saturday, April 15) – Bird Song (Ian Wilkes), Scuba (Brendan Walsh), Watershed (Kiaran McLaughlin). Possibles: Conquest Enforcer (Jeff Radosevich), Flatlined (Scooter Dickey), Matt King Coal (Linda Rice).
$100,000 GIANT’S CAUSEWAY (Entries taken Wednesday, April 12, race Saturday, April 15) – Bibby (Vicky Oliver), Exaggerated (Arnold Delacour), Her Love for Pappy (John Ortiz), Lady Aurelia (Wesley Ward), Lajatico (GB) (Doug O’Neill), Miss Katie Mae (IRE) (Graham Motion), Nobody’s Fault (Neil Pessin), Pretty Perfection (Kelly Breen).

2017 SPRING MEET SPECIAL EVENTS

Through December
Keeneland Library exhibit “Man o’ War: Images from the Keeneland Library Collections.” Exhibit features 16 shots of Man o’ War during his racing career and years at stud by Charles Christian Cook, Joseph Alvie Estes, Robert Lee McClure and Bert Clark Thayer. The Library is open to the public Mondays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. During the 2017 Spring Meet, it also is open on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The Library’s online exhibit “Man o’ War: In Others’ Words” tells the story of Man o’ War’s life, accomplishments and influence through images from its collection that are accompanied by quotations from the horse’s connections, contemporary sports writers and modern biographers.
Sunday, April 9
Kids Club Family Day. The Keeneland Kids Club is the Official Kids Club for Keeneland fans 12 and younger. Members and their families will enjoy a special day at the races by receiving free general admission and access to reserved Grandstand seating. Children’s activities will take place in the North Terrace from noon to 3 p.m
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