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Lukas runners gearing up for President's Day weekend It was not difficult to find the fastest workers at Oaklawn Park from the last couple days. One just had to visit the two-barn complex occupied by last year's training champion, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. The bullet brigade began Tuesday when Pippin Stakes-winner Absinthe Minded posted a half-mile breeze in :48 1/5 as she prepares to defend her title in the $100,000 Bayakoa Stakes on February 18. Four of her five career wins have come at the Hot Springs, Arkansas, venue and her latest workout is the latest example of how much she likes it at Oaklawn. "I couldn't be more pleased with the way she is training right now," Lukas said Thursday morning of the Quiet American five-year-old. "She is putting on weight and really maturing. She has liked it here all along, but she manages to look better and better. I'm very excited to run her again." That should give pause to her would-be competitors heading into the 1 1/16-mile stepping-stone to the Grade 3 Azeri Stakes on March 17 and the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 13. Absinthe Minded has never finished out of the money at Oaklawn in eight starts, including two third-place finishes in last year's Azeri and Apple Blossom, both times behind eventual Horse of the Year Havre de Grace. While Absinthe Minded could start the Presidents Day weekend with a stakes win for Lukas, his barn has several potential runners who could close it with a bang in the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest Stakes for three-year-olds on February 20. Two of those prospects posted bullets at different distances Wednesday morning, with Bluegrass Hall's Chalybeate Springs breezing a half-mile in :48 1/5 and Optimizer going five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 for the same owners. Chalybeate Springs, a bay son of Dynaformer, broke his maiden opening weekend then disappointed when making a quick turnaround in the Grade 3 LeComte Stakes at Fair Grounds, finishing last of 13. Grade 1-placed Optimizer, a bay colt by English Channel, exits a sixth-place finish in the Smarty Jones Stakes on January 16, but has Lukas excited about a potential rebound. "Optimizer's work was outstanding," he said. "I didn't even see how fast it was relative to the others. I just know, boy, he looked really good." A full field is expected for the Southwest, and Lukas will have his eyes and ears open for several possibilities involving the stakes. Also under consideration is Red Jack for Bluegrass Hall and Gameday News, who broke his maiden last weekend racing in the colors of Lukas and his co-owner, famed football coach Bill Parcells. All four horses are eligible to run in a "first-level" allowance race. "We have a lot of options at this point," Lukas said.
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