West Coast Stables' Grade 1-placed Pride of the Nile worked six furlongs in 1:16 under Ferrin Peterson Sunday morning on Keeneland's main track in preparation for Friday's $600,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1).
Trained by Doug O'Neill, the Pioneerof the Nile filly shipped to Keeneland in mid-March after a troubled trip in the Santa Ysabel (G3) at Santa Anita on March 5.
“I was glad to get her,” said Stephanie Murray, who oversees the O'Neill string at Keeneland. “Today was her third work here. The first time, she worked on the (all-weather) training track because of the rain.”
Runner-up in the Starlet (G1), denied by a head by Faiza, Dec. 10 and Las Virgenes (G3) Jan. 28, both at Santa Anita, Pride of the Nile has compiled 17 points toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Oaks (G1), which ranks 28th for the race that is limited to the top 14 point earners that pass the entry box. The Ashland offers 200 points toward the Oaks on a 100-40-30-20-10 scale for the first- through fifth-place finishers.
O'Neill is expected to be at Keeneland Friday, and Frankie Dettori will have the mount on Pride of the Nile.
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