Winner of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., the one-eyed 3-year-old Un Ojo had been under consideration for the G1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 9.
Instead, the Daily Racing Form reports that the Cypress Creek Equine-owned gelding will be pointed to Oaklawn's G1 Arkansas Derby on April 2.
“I think it was just a little bit better on him,” trainer Ricky Courville told DRF. “It's a little five-hour trip versus going to Keeneland, and the Blue Grass might be coming up tougher than expected. He also just won in Arkansas, and running him back on that track seemed like the thing to do. He likes that track.”
Sired by Laoban, Un Ojo finished second in the G3 Withers on Feb. 5 before his breakthrough victory at 75-1 in the G2 Rebel.
Bred in New York by Southern Equine Stable, Un Ojo is out of the multiple stakes-placed A.P. Indy mare Risk A Chance. The gelding lost his eye in a pasture accident when he was a yearling.
Read more at the Daily Racing Form.
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