Half-Sister To Essential Quality, Famed Headlines Saturday’s Golden Rod Stakes

Godolphin's 2-year-old filly Famed, the half-sister to champion colt Essential Quality, will face off against Susan Moulton's dominant 10 ¾-length winner of the $200,000 Rags to Riches Sandstone in Saturday's $400,000 Golden Rod (Grade 2), a race on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.

The 1 1/16-mile Golden Rod will award the Top 4 fillies points on a 10-4-2-1 scale toward the May 6 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). The Golden Rod, which goes as Race 10 at 5:27 p.m., is one of four stakes events on the “Stars of Tomorrow II” program from Churchill Downs. The others are the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), $200,000 Lively Shively and $200,000 Fern Creek. First post is 1 p.m.

Trained by Brad Cox, Famed has been well-backed in both of her two-career starts. She broke her maiden last out at Keeneland by 7 ¾ lengths at odds of 2-5. In her debut, the Uncle Mo filly finished second as the 4-5 favorite against 45-1 longshot Sweet Dani Girl. Famed will be ridden by Florent Geroux from post the rail.

The Kenny McPeek-trained Sandstone has won her last two races by a combined 19 ¾ lengths under jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. The filly by Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense debuted at 5 ½ furlongs in late May and finished fifth, beaten 7 ¾ lengths to stablemate and eventual $150,000 Debutante Stakes winner Behave Virginia. In her second start, at one-mile, Sandstone dusted her rivals at odds of 5-1. Her first start around two-turns was the Rags to Riches, the local prep to the Golden Rod, where she was the slight 5-2 upset winner over Yuugiri. Hernandez will once again have the call from post No. 4.

The full field for the Golden Rod from the inside out (with jockey and trainer):

  1. Famed (Geroux, Cox)
  2. Cancel This (Joel Rosario, Dale Romans)
  3. Secret Oath (David Cohen, D. Wayne Lukas)
  4. Sandstone (Hernandez, McPeek)
  5. Hal's Dream (Corey Lanerie, McPeek)
  6. Yuugiri (Tyler Gaffalione, Rodolphe Brisset)
  7. Dream Lith (Ramon Vazquez, Robertino Diodoro)
  8. Code for Success (Rafael Bejarano, Vicki Oliver)

Wagering is available online at www.TwinSpires.com, the official ADW of Churchill Downs Incorporated.

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‘She Gets You Excited’: Travel Column Chasing Oaks Points In Saturday’s Rachel Alexandra

In horse racing, it's never too early to look ahead. Trainer Brad Cox started doing just that shortly after Travel Column's eye-catching Nov. 28 win in the Golden Road (G2) at Churchill Downs.

The path to the April 30 Kentucky Oaks begins in earnest Saturday at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, when Travel Column starts as what figures to be a strong favorite in the $300,000 Rachel Alexandra (G2) presented by Fasig-Tipton. Run at 1 1/16 miles, the Rachel Alexandra offers 85 qualifying points for the Oaks, with the winner getting 50 on a 50-20-10-5 scale.

OXO Equine's Travel Column (post 8 at 2-1 with Florent Geroux) was always cut out to be a runner. The daughter of Frosted was sold for $850,000 as a yearling and didn't disappoint in her debut, winning off by 4 ¼ lengths at Churchill in a September MSW, ironically enough on Kentucky Oaks Day. She was a distant third in the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland after a slow start caused her to rush up early to get into contention, and she predictably flattened out late.

Travel Column announced her presence in the Golden Rod, in what was one of the most impressive performances by a juvenile of any sex all year. Travel Column was sandwiched at the start, raced last-of-9 early, then got caught in traffic entering the far turn. She couldn't get out until midstretch, then hit sixth gear in an instant and won going away. Cox, like everyone else, was impressed—after it was all over.

“I loved her going into the race, I was concerned during the race, and I loved her even more after the race,” Cox joked. “It was a little bit of a worry. We saw it in the Alcibiades too, she breaks a little slow and had to make a premature move. But once she gets going, she's a really, really nice filly and she's shown it time and again.”

Travel Column has kept a steady worktab at Fair Grounds this winter and signaled her readiness for the Rachel Alexandra with a 6-furlong move on January 31 in 1:13. She did it in company with stablemate Essential Quality, who was last year's undefeated 2-Year-old Champion. Travel Column has more than held her own.

“She worked in tandem with Essentially Quality and has worked with him a lot and it's worked out well, they both get plenty out of it,” Cox said. “She holds her own and for her to be able to do it with the 2-Year-Old Champion colt says a lot. She gets you excited for sure.”

Cox won the Oaks in 2018 with Monomoy Girl and last year with Shedaresthedevil, so he knows how to get a 3-year-old filly to peak in the most important race of their lives. He hopes Travel Column will take that next step on Saturday on the road back to Louisville for the big dance on the last Friday in April.

“Hopefully this is the start of a three-race streak,” Cox said. “You just watch your horse and you want them to have a good experience every time you lead them over there. I think she's set up for that on Saturday with the way she's been training. I'm excited about what she's shown us so far as a 3-year-old in the morning.”

Lothenbach Stables' homebred Charlie's Penny (post 9 at 9-2 with Brian Hernandez Jr.) surprised in the local prep, winning the Jan. 16 Silverbulletday going away by 3 ½ lengths, in what was her two-turn debut. The daughter of Race Day entered off a third-place finish in the local 6-furlong Letellier in December and was a 9-1 outsider, but she settled in third early and powered home late over fellow rival Souper Sensational. Block left the Silverbulletday feeling good, but knows Charlie's Penny will need to answer the bell one more time.

“To see her get around two turns was a confidence builder for all of us,” Block said. “She's trained well in between, done what we've asked her to do, and maintained herself well since. She'll have to take another pretty big step forward to be competitive with the likes of Travel Column, and Clairiere, and I look for Souper Sensational to move forward as well. It's a group that will certainly make us all take a look afterwards and see what path to take.”

Stonestreet Stables' homebred Clairiere (post 1 at 5-2 with Joe Talamo) was second to Travel Column in the Golden Rod and is another who will make her 3-yer-old debut in the Rachel Alexandra. The daughter of multiple grade 1 winner Cavorting was spotting experience to Travel Column last time, as she entered off just a debut win at Churchill in October for trainer Steve Asmussen. Clairiere has also been training at Fair Grounds this winter and, if things go according to plan, the two fillies will get very acquainted with each other during the first half of the season.

“She's a very good, lightly-raced filly with a huge pedigree,” Asmussen said of Clairiere. “It's the right spot to start her back and we're really looking forward to it. But obviously we have our eye down the road (towards the Kentucky Oaks) with her too.”

Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational (post 2 at 8-1 with Declan Carroll) was second in the Silverbulletday, and like Charlie's Penny, she too had her own questions to answer. The daughter of Curlin entered 2 for-2 for trainer Mark Casse, though both wins were sprinting over the Tapeta at Woodbine. Souper Sensational didn't have a smooth trip in the Silverbulletday, as she was last in the six-horse field, while the pace of :49 4/5 was a crawl early. Casse's local assistant Dave Carroll applauded Souper Sensational's desire.

“It wasn't ideal circumstances that day and she got squeezed back a bit at the start too,” Carroll said. “But she didn't worry about it, laid back and made the one run, and here we are. I think this race will tell us where we are going forward, if she can handle this two-turn trip again, it will give us a lot of options.”

Tom Amoss will start three in the Rachel Alexandra, with Cosmic Racing's Zoom Up (post 6 at 6-1 with James Graham) the most well-regarded off a strong optional-claiming win here January 18, in what was her two-turn debut. The daughter of Upstart hit the board in her first two starts in Kentucky then broke her maiden locally going 6 furlongs by a neck but she looked like an even better horse stretching out last time. Zoom Up settled early, kicked clear in midstretch, and won going away by 2 lengths. It was an effort that had even Amoss taking notice.

“She ran really well and it even surprised me a little bit, by how effortless it was to make the transition from one-turn to two turns,” Amoss said. “She's really improving and her race was impressive, so we're looking forward to the Rachel Alexandra.”

Amoss also will run BCWT Ltd.'s Off We Go (post 4 at 15-1 with Mitchell Murrill), who makes her two-turn debut off a close second in an optional-claimer here January 22 in her 3-year-old debut, and Joel Politi's Littlestitious (post 7 at 12-1 with Colby Hernandez), a distant fifth in the Silverbulletday after setting the pace early.

Brad King, Jim Cone, Scott Bryant, and Stan and Suzanne Kirby's Moon Swag (post 3 at 15-1 with Adam Beschizza) could improve after finishing third, beaten 4 lengths with a troubled trip in the Silverbulletday in what was her two-turn debut. The daughter of Malibu Moon had yet to run past 6 furlongs and took up sharply entering the first turn but ran on through the lane in an encouraging effort.

Completing the Rachel Alexandra field is Norman Stables and Mark Norman's Becca's Rocket (post 5 at 20-1 with Marcelino Pedroza), who broke her maiden here going two turns in November for trainer Scotty Gelner.

In the last 25 years, nine winners of the Kentucky Oaks also participated in the Rachel Alexandra. They include:

2019 – Serengeti Empress, won both

2018 – Monomoy Girl, won both

2015 – Lovely Maria, 2nd in the Rachel, won the Kentucky Oaks

2014 – Untapable, won both

2012 – Believe You Can, 4th in the Rachel, won the Kentucky Oaks

2008 – Proud Spell, 2nd in the Rachel, won the Kentucky Oaks

2005 – Summerly, won both

1999 – Silverbulletday won both

1997 – Blushing K.D., won both

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Travel Column Circles Field, Overcomes Trouble To Win Golden Rod Stakes

OXO Equine's Travel Column made an impressive run to avoid trouble at the eighth pole in winning Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The 2-year-old daughter from the first crop of Frosted was last early and passed all eight of her rivals to win by a length, stopping the clock in 1:43.98 for 1 1/16 miles over the fast main track. Trained by Brad Cox, the filly was ridden to victory at odds of 5-1 by jockey Florent Geroux.

The win earned Travel Column 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.

Last early after being crowded and pushed back at the start, Travel Column stayed wide near the rear of the pack during the early running. Longshot Farsighted lead the way through fractions of :23.77 and :48.21, tracked by the favorite Simply Ravishing.

Simply Ravishing, the G1 Alcibiades winner, grabbed the lead around the turn but couldn't hold on, and was headed by Clairere at the three-sixteenths pole. Meanwhile, Travel Column went wide to range into contention but still had five lengths to make up at the head of the lane.

Near the inside, Travel Column had to shift out four-wide at the eighth pole for clear running room, and was able to run down her foes in the final sixteenth of a mile. Beaten a length in second was Clairere, and the previously undefeated Coach finished third. Favorite Simply Ravishing was fourth.

Bred in Kentucky by Mr. and Mrs. Bayne Welker Jr. and Denali Stud, Travel Column was an $850,000 yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select sale. Out of the multiple stakes-winning Victory Gallop mare Swingit, the filly is a half-sister to $2 million-earner Neolithic (Harlan's Holiday).

Travel Column won her debut at Churchill Downs by 4 1/4 lengths with a pace-pressing run, then missed the start and could do no better than third in the G1 Alcibiades at Keeneland. Her win in the Golden Rod improves her record to two victories from three starts and earnings of $209,184.

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Travel Column Becomes First Graded Winner for Frosted in Golden Rod

Travel Column (Frosted) endured a checkered passage–to say the least–in Saturday’s GII Golden Rod S. at Churchill Downs, but showed a fair bit of courage to hit the wire first.

A half-step slow out of the gates and pinched back soon after, Travel Column was last to make the clubhouse turn and was taken hold of by Florent Geroux as Farsighted (Bernardini) took them along at a sensible clip. The $850,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga acquisition was slipped a bit of rein at about midway and improved her position into midfield and within striking distance as they hit the turn. Going well as they neared the stretch, Travel Column had absolutely nowhere to go at the three-sixteenths and was carefully maneuvered across three sets of heels to lay down a four-path challenge in the final furlong. Recent debut winner Clariere (Curlin) hit the front with time ticking away, but Travel Column had the answers and raced past that one en route to a determined success. Odds-on Simply Ravishing (Laoban), a close fourth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 6, was also tardily into stride and raced prominently. She took command a fair way out, but was a sitting duck late and could not hang on for a top-three finish.

Travel Column made her first trip to the races on the Kentucky Oaks undercard Sept. 4, sailing home a 4 1/4-length winner of a six-furlong maiden to become a ‘TDN Rising Star.’ Taking the next logical step in Keeneland’s GI Darley Alcibiades S. Oct. 2, she missed the kick, sat a midfield trip and made minor inroads late to be third behind Simply Ravishing.

Pedigree Notes:
Travel Column was offered through the consignment of her co-breeder Denali Stud at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, and her hammer price ranked as the most expensive of her sire’s 67 first-crop yearlings reported as sold in 2019. The second black-type winner (Frosted’s Australian-bred son Ingratiating was a listed winner at first asking at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne Oct. 3) and first graded winner, Travel Column is a half-sister to an American Pharoah colt that fetched $1.25 million from Speedway Stables to be the second most expensive horse at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase in September. Swingit is the dam of a weanling colt by City of Light and was bred back to Audible.

Saturday, Churchill Downs
GOLDEN ROD S.-GII, $200,000, Churchill Downs, 11-28, 2yo, f,
1 1/16m, 1:43.98, ft.
1–TRAVEL COLUMN, 122, f, 2, by Frosted
1st Dam: Swingit (MSW, $345,353), by Victory Gallop
2nd Dam: Free Ransom, by Our Native
3rd Dam: Pay the Ransom, by J. O. Tobin
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($850,000
Ylg ’19 FTSAUG). ‘TDN Rising Star’ O-OXO Equine LLC; B-Mr. &
Mrs. Bayne Welker Jr. & Denali Stud (KY); T-Brad H. Cox;
J-Florent Geroux. $119,040. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-1,
$209,184. *1/2 to Neolithic (Harlan’s Holiday), G1SP-UAE,
MGISP-USA, $2,278,028. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Clairiere, 122, f, 2, Curlin–Cavorting, by Bernardini.
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $38,400.
3–Coach, 122, f, 2, Commissioner–And Stay Out, by Exchange
Rate. ($65,000 Ylg ’19 FTKOCT). O-Kueber Racing, LLC; B-Three
Lyons Racing LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $19,200.
Margins: 1, 2HF, HF. Odds: 4.90, 5.00, 6.30.
Also Ran: Simply Ravishing, Princess Theorem, Alexandria, Lady Lilly, Lady Traveler, Farsighted. Scratched: No Mo’ Spending. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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