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Champions Essential Quality, Monomoy Girl Remain On Target For Delayed Oaklawn Stakes

Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and 2020 Champion 2-year-old Essential Quality remains on target for Oaklawn's delayed running of the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes, reigning champion trainer Brad Cox told the Paulick Report.

Hot Springs, Ak. has been beset by extreme winter weather since it last held racing on Feb. 11. The track has seen several inches of snow and sub-zero temperatures over the past week, and is forecast to receive an additional 10-plus inches of snow in the coming days. Races were cancelled this weekend, and all graded stakes were rescheduled.

The $750,000 Southwest, which offers 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby to the winner, was originally scheduled to be run on Feb. 15, and is now expected to be rescheduled to the week of Feb. 25-28. That puts the Southwest just two weeks before Oaklawn's next prep race, the G2 Rebel on March 14.

Essential Quality remains stabled at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., where temperatures have dipped below freezing overnight but are not nearly as cold as in Arkansas. The Godolphin-owned 3-year-old son of Tapit put in a workout at Fair Grounds on Feb. 14, covering five furlongs in 1:02.40.

Also remaining on target for her 2021 debut at Oaklawn is dual champion Monomoy Girl. The now 6-year-old daughter of Tapizar was scheduled to run in the G3 Bayakoa Stakes on Feb. 15, and will still make her next start in that race when it's rescheduled to the week of Feb. 25-28. Monomoy Girl is also stabled at the Fair Grounds, and worked five furlongs there in 1:01.40 on Feb. 14.

“It hasn't really affected the training for both Essential Quality and Monomoy Girl,” Cox told bloodhorse.com. “They have been working steadily and are ready to run. We worked them this weekend when they were supposed to race and we'll breeze them again this weekend to prep for the races next weekend. They are ready to run. We'll ship them up when the weather clears.”

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Baffert’s Prep Plans: Life Is Good To San Felipe, Freedom Fighter To Gotham

Two of Bob Baffert's four Triple Crown contenders worked at Santa Anita Monday morning: undefeated Sham Stakes winner Life Is Good going five furlongs in 1:00.80, breezing, for the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes, while stablemate Freedom Fighter went four furlongs in :48.60.

A son of Violence, Baffert said Freedom Fighter will make his next start in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct under Manny Franco. Freedom Fighter was runner-up in the San Vicente Stakes on Feb. 6 to stablemate Concert Tour.

Both the San Felipe and the Gotham will be run on March 6.

“He went extremely well,” Baffert said of Life Is Good, a son of Into Mischief owned by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm.

Baffert also was pleased with Freedom Fighter, who stretches out from the seven-furlong San Vicente to the one-turn mile of the Gotham which, like the San Felipe, offers 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner and 20, 10, five to the horses finishing second through fourth.

Baffert also worked Eclipse Award champion female sprinter Gamine “an easy half” in 50.20.

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Cox: ‘Best Is Yet To Come’ For Risen Star Winner Mandaloun

According to their respective connections, the top three finishers from this past Saturday's Risen Star (G2) presented by Larmarque Ford-Lincoln and Rachel Alexandra (G2), presented by Fasig-Tipton, are all likely to renew acquaintances on March 20 in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) and Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2). The $1 million Derby and $400,000 Oaks highlight a card that has eight stakes—four of them graded—worth a total of $2.425 million.

Juddmonte Farms' Mandaloun won the Risen Star by 1 ¼ lengths and the 50 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) qualifying points that went with it for trainer Brad Cox, beating Proxy (20 points) and Midnight Bourbon (10). The 3-year-old son of Into Mischief added blinkers and rebounded from a third-place finish in the local January 16 Lecomte (G3) and stamped himself as one of the horses to beat not only for the local 1 3/16-mile Derby, but the one going 1 ¼ miles May 1 at Churchill Downs as well.

“The logical spot would be back here at the Fair Grounds on the 20th of March,” Cox said. “We have not confirmed that, but we'll let the horse tell us over the next few weeks. I thought he really stepped up and showed he can get the mile and an eighth and beyond. I feel like he's a horse who is moving forward in every start and hopefully the best is yet to come.”

Godolphin's homebred Proxy once again ran big in defeat for trainer Mike Stidham and the son of Tapit showed his second in the Lecomte was no fluke, while Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon, a son of Tiznow, settled for third in the Risen Star after winning the Lecomte for trainer Steve Asmussen. Both camps indicated their colts came out of the Risen Star in good order and are likely to be pointed to the Louisiana Derby.

A race earlier in the Rachel Alexandra, Stonestreet Stables' homebred Clairiere turned the tables on OXO Equine's even-money favorite Travel Column, beating her by a neck after running second to her in Churchill's November 28 Golden Rod (G2). The former, a daughter of Curlin trainer by Asmussen, and the latter, a daughter of Frosted trained by Cox, are penciled in to renew their budding rivalry in the local Oaks. Clairiere earned 50 qualifying points for the April 30 Longines Kentucky Oaks, while Travel Column earned 20.

Brad King, Jim Cone, Scott Bryant, and Stan and Suzanne Kirby's Moon Swag, a daughter of Malibu Moon, was third in the Rachel Alexandra and earned 10 Oaks qualifying points, and is also likely to move on to the Oaks, according to trainer Brandan Walsh.

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Joseph Looking At Fountain Of Youth Or Gotham For Swale Winner Drain The Clock

Drain the Clock breezed a half-mile Sunday morning at Gulfstream Park in preparation for a possible start in the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) Feb. 27 at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track. The 3-year-old son of Maclean's Music was timed in :49.02 in his first workout since romping to victory in the Jan. 30 Claiborne Farm Swale (G3) at Gulfstream.

“It was his first easy breeze by himself. He went as good as could ask,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “Next week, we'll put in company. I didn't want him to go with company today, because I didn't want him to go too fast. By himself, he'll go as slow as you want. In company, he gets more aggressive.”

Drain the Clock has won four of five lifetime starts, his only loss coming when he lost his rider due to a broken iron during the running of the Nov. 30 Jean Lafitte Stakes at Delta Downs. He entered the Delta stakes off a six-length debut victory at Gulfstream Park and an optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream Park West. The Joseph trainee bounced back from his ill-fated trip to Louisiana with a 7 ½-length win in the Jan. 2 Limehouse and a 6 ¼-length triumph in the Swale during the 2020-'21 Championship Meet.

Joseph said Drain the Clock will likely return to action in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth or the Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct March 6.

“He's also nominated to the Tampa Bay Derby, but I would say it's between the Fountain of Youth or the Gotham,” Joseph said.

The Joseph-trained Ny Traffic, who came within a nose of beating 2020 Horse of the Year Authentic in last year's Haskell (G1) at Monmouth, breezed a half-mile Sunday morning at Gulfstream. Idle since finishing ninth in the Oct. 3 Preakness (G1), the 4-year-old son of Cross Traffic was timed in 47:53 seconds for four furlongs in his sixth breeze in preparation for his return to action.

“The was his most serious work to date,” Joseph said. “He's in good order. He'll have maybe two more works and we'll try to find a spot.”

The New York-bred colt worked in company with Saturday's Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3) winner Mischevious Alex in his previous workout.

Ny Traffic, who is owned by John Fanelli, Cash is King LLC, LC Racing LLC, Paul Braverman and team Hanley, finished second in the Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds, the Matt Winn (G2) at Churchill Downs, and the Haskell (G1) at Monmouth Park. He finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

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