Forum Racing's Birdatthewire (Summer Bird) and Brereton Jones and Timothy Thornton's Include Betty (Include) both breezed five furlongs at Churchill Downs in their final preparations for Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks.
Birdatthewire, winner of the GII Forward Gal S. Jan. 24 and GII Gulfstream Oaks Mar. 28, covered five panels in 1:01.20 under exercise rider Faustino Aguilar. The bay was clocked in fractions of :12.40, :24.40, :36.20 and :48.40 with a six-furlong gallop-out in 1:14.40.
“She always works good,” trainer Dale Romans said. “She looked like here normal self. We kept her a little off the rail to try to keep her slowed down a little bit, and it looked like she did everything right.”
GIII Fantasy S. heroine Include Betty breezed five furlongs in 1:02.20 under regular exercise rider Leo Garcia. The track clockers caught her in splits of :25.80 and :38 with a six-furlong gallop-out in 1:18.
“It was exactly what we wanted,” said Thornton, co-owner of the filly and general manager of Jones's Airdrie Stud. “She's not a real fast workhorse in the first place. It was just the final tune-up to wake her up and let her know that it's almost race time.”
Include Betty came from last to upset the Apr. 4 Fantasy, and Thornton hopes her late running style will serve her well over Churchill's long stretch.
“We're excited about that long stretch at Churchill,” Thornton said. “We're hoping there'll be some pace in there and it looks like there will be. She won't even be on the screen the first part of it. She's a filly you can't rush. She just wants to lope behind but then once she decides to run she really likes to go.”
The chestnut's regular jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr. will remain aboard for the Oaks.
“She rode a hell of a race for us in the Fantasy and we're just hoping for her to do the same thing again in the Oaks,” Thornton said.
Brereton Jones's other Oaks contender Lovely Maria (Majesticperfection), winner of the GI Ashland S., and stablemate I'm a Chatterbox (Munnings), heroine of the GII Fair Grounds Oaks, will breeze Sunday for trainer Larry Jones.
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