Ruby's Reception "Unlikely" For Oaks
East - Ogden Mills Phipps'
Storm Flag Flying, the unbeaten champion juvenile filly of 2002, is
scheduled to make her much anticipated debut as a 3-year-old in Friday's
$100,000 Comely Stakes (Grade III) at New York's Aqueduct.
The daughter of Storm Cat, who is trained by Claude "Shug"
McGaughey, is scheduled to face four rivals in the Comely, which is her
first start since a gritty win over Composure in the Breeders' Cup
Juvenile Fillies (GI) at Arlington Park last October.
In doing so she became the first third-generation Breeders' Cup winner.
Her dam, My Flag, won the Juvenile Fillies in 1995 and her grandmother,
Hall of Famer Personal Ensign, won the Breeders' Cup Distaff (GI) at
Churchill Downs in 1988.
McGaughey said victory in the Comely could earn Storm Flag
Flying a trip to the Kentucky Oaks.
"The Oaks is a possibility," he said. "Then we'll point to the
big races in New York over the summer."
Those races include the New York Racing Association's (NYRA)
"Triple Tiara." That three-race series has been shuffled this year to
include Belmont Park's Mother Goose (GI) and Coaching Club American Oaks
(GI) and the three-race series concludes with the Alabama (GI) at
Saratoga in mid-August. Any filly that wins all three of those races
would, for the first time, collect a bonus of $2 million.
But Storm Flag Flying's first step is the one-mile Comely, a
race in which her most serious opposition appears to be Cyber Secret,
winner of the Cicada (GIII) in her most recent start. Regular jockey
John Velazquez
will be back in the irons aboard Storm Flag Flying as she takes the
first step in what her trainer hopes will be a remarkable year.
"I hope we haven't gotten to the bottom of her yet," McGaughey
said. "I'm looking forward to getting her over there."
Southeast -- Gilbert Campbell's
Ivanavinalot turned in a rare poor effort in her most recent start in
Keeneland's Ashland Stakes (GI), but she could still get a shot at
redemption in the Kentucky Oaks.
Ivanavinalot worked a solid six furlongs earlier this week for
trainer Kathleen O'Connell and the move was strong enough to keep the
Florida-bred filly's Oaks hopes flickering despite her problems in the
Ashland.
"She got absolutely nothing from that race," said O'Connell. "I
hate to run her a mile and an eighth and ship her too with nothing
between the Bonnie Miss and the Oaks. She will need to work another
really good work here first before we decide. I don't want to take her
if she's not 110 percent."
If O'Connell passes on the Oaks, Ivanavinalot would be pointed
to Pimlico's Black Eyed Susan (GII).
Central -- Her owners live in
Kentucky and her trainer is also based in the state, but it appears
"unlikely" that Oasis Stable's Fantasy (GII) winner Ruby's Reception
will run in the May 2 Kentucky Oaks.
Trainer Larry Jones said the three-week space between races may
not be enough for his filly.
"I'm not saying we couldn't dive down in there, but right now
that's not the plan," Jones said. "I really don't know what we're going
to do, to tell you the truth. But she doesn't really like to get her
races real close together and we're probably going to try to space her
out a little more than the Oaks."
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