Breen, Miss Sky Warrior Riding High into Oaks

A few moments with Kelly Breen and it is easy to sense the roots of his success. A proper balance of blunt, thoughtful and calculated in delivery, he speaks about his operation with honesty, consistency and an urgency for excellence. All of those attributes can also be applied to his current stable starlet, Arlene's Sun Star Stable's Miss Sky Warrior (First Samurai), one of the favorites for the GI Kentucky Oaks on May 5. A swift, genuine filly who rides a five-race winning streak into the American classic, she has proven herself to be a dominant force over the last six months and could give Breen his first Grade I victory since the 2011 GI Belmont S. with Ruler on Ice.

“She's pretty special,” Breen said. “As of right now, it looks like she's gotten a little bit better as she's come along. She didn't do anything wrong before, she just appears to be a little stronger. She's always been a very tall filly and I think she is growing into her frame a bit. It is exciting that she has even more growing up to do and could improve even more. That's a big plus for her.”

As quick to pragmatism as one would expect a racehorse trainer born and based in New Jersey to be, Breen understands that the race will not be handed over to his filly. In fact, she was not even guaranteed to start in the Kentucky Oaks until after her 13-length romp last out in the GII Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct Apr. 8. Prior to that victory, she had just one other start this season when taking a salty renewal of the GII Davona Dale S. at Gulfstream Park Mar. 4. Such a schedule left little room for error if the Arlene London homebred dark bay filly were to compete in the Kentucky Oaks, but she passed all tests with elegance.

“There's a lot of excitement with a filly like this and going into a race like this,” Breen explained. “More people talk about your horse [because it's the Oaks] and it's a lot of fun to have one as good as she is. I would not change positions with anyone because I think she's a very special filly and I think it's pretty special that she has taken us this far. We weren't even 100% sure if we were going got run in the Oaks or if it was best for our schedule, but when she did what she did in that powerful performance last week, it was a given that she belongs. It was a no-brainer for us.

“(Her preparation) was a matter of location,” he continued. “We were based in Florida this winter and were racing at Gulfstream Park, so you have to take into account the stakes [program] and the dynamics of the racetrack. I could have had her run in a race in February, because she was ready to run then, but that would have had to be seven furlongs and I don't think a race that short would have done her any good. We also wanted to give her more time, so we skipped that race and felt confident that it was the right thing to do. She may eventually be a superior horse going shorter, who knows, but for right now she has shown that she runs very well at these longer distances.”

As a juvenile, the maternal granddaughter of 1982 Horse of the Year Conquistador Cielo won a pair of graded takes at Aqueduct, capped with the nine-furlong GII Demoiselle S. That victory, along with her recent bounding-away display in her aptly named prep make her the only two-time winner at the Kentucky Oaks' distance among the expected competitors. In fact, many of her likely foes have yet to even try a trip that far.

“Handicapping-wise, it's definitely a feather in her cap,” the 18-time graded stakes-winning conditioner said. “She's already done it and proven she's good enough in graded stakes company. She has speed she can carry, but she doesn't have to be on the front. She just breaks very sharply and seems to be up there. Right now I think she's showing that she has the ability to run with those fillies. If we can keep her winning streak alive, that would also be a big part of the fun.”

Miss Sky Warrior arrived at Churchill Downs Monday, Apr. 17, and posted the first of an expected two workouts over the track Thursday, covering four furlongs in :49 flat. Breen arrived late Tuesday to oversee his star pupil's final preparations. A winner of more than 600 races and $28.6 million in purses, the talented horseman has big hopes for his charge, including a return to New York racing and its series of top-level fillies events later on in the season. First, he concisely redirects focus to the task at hand.

“We have a couple obvious races in mind and we want a Grade I win out of her, but I like to go race-by-race,” Breen said. “I just try to get my horses 100% ready to go and put them in the right spots. The rest is up to them. So far, so good.

“She's one of the top fillies I've ever had,” he concluded. “If she stays healthy like this, the sky's the limit.”

Such is high praise from the 47-year-old analytically-inclined, iPad-clad conditioner whose head is as level as his trademark trilby. Then again, lofty are the bars that Miss Sky Warrior sets with each soaring effort.