John Oxley's champion Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) is nearing a return to breezing, but will be forced to miss an expected start in the Aug. 26 GI Travers S. after falling behind in his training due to a nagging abscess in his front right foot, trainer Mark Casse said Monday. The abscess has been cured, and Classic Empire galloped over the Oklahoma training track Monday morning.
“He looked great today,” Casse said. “[Assistant trainer Norm Casse] and I are still talking about how we want to do this, but I would say today I thought he had great energy. He was happy so if we can keep that up for the next little while we're going to breeze him. We're not going to make the Travers, obviously, but we now are aiming for the [GI Sept. 23] Pennsylvania Derby.”
Winner of four of five starts, including the GI Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile S. at two in a campaign that landed him championship honors, the bay rebounded from a disappointing third-place finish in the Feb. 4 GII Lambholm South Holy Bull S. with a score in the Apr. 15 GI Arkansas Derby. A troubled fourth in the GI Kentucky Derby May 6, he was last seen dispatching Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) on the front end before being caught late by Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) in a runner-up effort in the May 20 GI Preakness S.
“Everywhere, you see horses that are winning these big races, that he's handled with ease–yeah, it's frustrating [to miss so much time],” Casse said. “But I also have to think to myself, hey, we're fortunate to have been able to accomplish what we have with him, and that's how I handle it. Do you want to get in there and try? Of course, for us, we still feel like we have a shot to be a champion 3-year-old.”
One of those horses is Gunnevera (Dialed In), who returned from a short layup to annex Gulfstream Park's Tangelo S. as the heavy favorite Sunday. A three-time graded stakes winner prior to respective seventh and fifth-place runs in the Derby and Preakness, the chestnut will be pointed to the Travers for his next Start, according to trainer Antonio Sano.
“He's doing good–very, very good,” Sano said Monday. “Everything went very well. The race went just like we wanted, and he will go to the Travers. He will ship up that week, either that Monday or Tuesday, and we are looking forward to it.”
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