Andrew Warren and Rania Warren's Raise Cain, who won the Grade 3 Gotham in rallying fashion on March 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack, will likely make his next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Blue Grass on April 8 at Keeneland, according to trainer Ben Colebrook.
Raise Cain, a bay son of Violence, made his graded debut a winning one in the Gotham, closing from 5 1/2 lengths off the pace to land an impressive 7 1/2-length victory at odds of 23-1 under Jose Lezcano. Raise Cain, who was nominated to the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 8 at the Big A, has worked back once since his victory, breezing a half-mile in 49 seconds on March 22 at Keeneland.
“He's been training great and put on weight,” said Colebrook. “He'll breeze again tomorrow at Keeneland. I think he really gets it now and now he's confident and feeling good. I think he's sitting on a big race wherever we go. It's exciting.”
Colebrook, who is based in Kentucky, said the ability to run at home, along with Lezcano's potential commitment to ride Wood Memorial aspirant Arctic Arrogance, has made him lean towards the Blue Grass rather than a return to the Empire State.
“We're not sure if Lezcano would ride us or Arctic Arrogance,” said Colebrook. “I don't think the Blue Grass will be a full field and it's one of those things where if we can run in our own backyard, it will take a strong reason for us to go to the Wood. But, it could still happen if something changes with defections and it's still on our radar. We're taking it day by day.”
Raise Cain earned 50 qualifying points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby for his Gotham victory. Both the Wood Memorial and the Blue Grass offer 100-40-30-20-10 qualifying points to the top-five finishers, respectively.
Colebrook had also nominated stakes-winner Scoobie Quando to the Wood Memorial for the same ownership, but said the son of Uncle Mo is also pointing toward the Blue Grass or the Grade 3 Lexington on April 15 over the same oval, awarding 20-8-6-4-2 qualifying points.
Scoobie Quando, who was last seen finishing second in the John Battaglia Memorial on March 4 over Turfway Park's synthetic, has made all three starts at Turfway and has never raced over the dirt. Colebrook said he had planned to run the colt in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks, which was won impressively by Two Phil's on March 25 at Turfway, but skipped the race due to a minor issue.
“He had a little issue – nothing major – where he missed the Jeff Ruby, but that was kind of a blessing in disguise with the way Two Phil's ran,” said Colebrook. “We'll go back to Plan B, which is the Blue Grass or the Lexington. He hasn't shipped, so the fact there's two races here [is better]. I think if we're going to try something new, let's try it at home. There's too many unknowns to ship to New York.”
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