Believe You Can, Neck 'n Neck work for stakes under the Twin Spires

Believe You Can, Neck 'n Neck work for stakes under the

Twin Spires

A busy morning of works on a glorious autumn morning at

Churchill Downs included a serious five-furlong training move by Brereton Jones' Believe

You Can, winner of the 2012 Kentucky Oaks.

Jockey Rosie Napravnik, who became the first woman to ride

an Oaks winner when she guided Believe You Can home in last year's renewal, was

in the irons as the homebred daughter of Proud Citizen covered the distance over

a fast surface in 1:00 1/5.

The move ranked as the third-fastest of 49 at the distance

and trainer Larry Jones said he hopes to run Believe You Can in the

Grade 2, $150,000 Falls City Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for older fillies

and mares and the traditional centerpiece of the Thanksgiving Day celebration on

November 28 at Churchill Downs.

"We're trying for the Falls City," Jones stated. "We'll

probably need at least one more work."

Believe You Can last competed in the May 27 Ogden Phipps

Handicap at Belmont Park. She finished last in a field of six under

jockey John Velazquez. It was a very disappointing race for Jones because his

Joyful Victory, ridden that day by Napravnik, ran fifth.

"We haven't figured that one out," Jones said of the

disappointing Phipps run. "She never got untracked. But it was also a bad race

for Joyful Victory, so I don't know if we shipped too close to the race, because

both horses ran almost identical races.

"Both horses got a layoff after that and Joyful Victory

came back really good, so we're expecting this one to do that, too."

The work by Believe You Can was also notable for Napravnik,

as her appearance at Churchill Downs was the first for the 25-year-old jockey

since Sunday.

Napravnik suffered this week from body soreness that is attributable

to a pair of mishaps. She was thrown from a mount at the start of a race

on the October 27 opening day of the Churchill Downs fall meet, then was shaken up

late last week in a traffic mishap in Louisville, Kentucky, before she traveled to

Southern California for the Breeders' Cup.

Napravnik was scheduled to ride five mounts on Saturday, including a ride

aboard Abaco in the 40th running of the

Grade 3, $100,000 Cardinal Handicap, which is scheduled as the 8TH of the

day's 10 races.

Sunny skies scrapped trainer Ian Wilkes' latest hope to find a prep race for

Neck 'n Neck, so the four-year-old colt had to settle for a sharp five-furlong work

on Saturday at Churchill.

Wilkes has been trying to find a prep race for the dark bay son of Flower Alley to prepare him for a planned run in the

Grade 1, $500,000 Clark Handicap on November 29. He has

entered the colt in several races, but none have attracted sufficient entries.

Neck n' Neck was entered in Saturday's 2ND race at Churchill, an

allowance/optional claimer at a mile on grass just in case wet weather

forced that race to be moved to the main track, but Wilkes scratched the colt

when sunshine and an anticipated high of 62 ensured that the

race would stay on the grass.

With the race off the table, jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.

climbed in the saddle aboard Neck 'n Neck and worked him five furlongs in a

brisk 1:00 4/5, which was the sixth-fastest move of 49 at the distance.

It was a good and useful move, but Wilkes said he needs

more to have Neck 'n Neck ready for the Clark -- a race that could attract the

likes of Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up and Travers winner Will Take

Charge, Horse of the Year candidate Game On Dude, and other accomplished stars

that include Windswept, runner-up to 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Fort Larned in Churchill Downs' inaugural Homecoming Classic, and Bourbon Courage,

third in 2012 Clark.

"You can't run against those horses without the right preparation," Wilkes

declared.

Neck 'n Neck would certainly be a worthy candidate for the

Clark. His lifetime record stands at 15-5-2-1 with earnings of $687,852.

Neck 'n Neck closed 2012 with a rush by scoring back-to-back wins in the

Indiana Derby and Ack Ack Handicap, but a training injury shortly after the latter derailed hopes

for a run in the Clark. Wilkes finally got Neck 'n Neck back to the

races with a late-running third-place finish in the Michael G. Schaefer Memorial

Stakes at Indiana Downs on October 5, but efforts to find another prep for this year's

Clark have resulted in nothing but frustration.

The next few days will be anxious ones for Wilkes, who

will be watching for possible opportunities for a prep race at Churchill Downs

or another track.

"The horse is doing good," Wilkes said. "We just hope we

get the opportunity to run."

Others of note working at Churchill on Saturday include Locust Grove winner Flashy

American, who was fourth in the Zenyatta behind Breeders' Cup Distaff heroine

Beholder on September 28. The Flashy Bull filly prepped for the Falls City by breezing four furlongs in :47

4/5 for trainer Kenny McPeek.

Fellow McPeek pupil and Group 1 victor Olympic Thunder readied for the Grade

3, $100,000 River City Handicap on November 23 with a four-furlong move in :48

3/5.

Maiden victress Streethomealabama stepped four furlongs in :49 2/5 for McPeek

ahead of the Grade 2, $175,000 Golden Rod on November 30.

Circle Unbroken, winner of

the 2012 Bashford Manor, covered a a half-mile in :51 3/5 for trainer Garry

Simms.

Kentucky Derby runner-up Golden Soul

turned four panels in :51 1/5 for Dallas Stewart.

Admiral Kitten, winner of the Secretariat and a nominee for next Saturday's

Grade 3, $100,000 Commonwealth Turf at

Churchill, breezed five furlongs in 1:02 4/5 for trainer Mike Maker over

the six-furlong dirt course at the Trackside Louisville training center.

Maker also breezed

Always Kitten, winner of the Ta Wee at Indiana

Downs last out, five furlongs in 1:02 2/5. The sophomore lass is nominated to

next Saturday's Grade 2, $175,000 Mrs. Revere under the Twin Spires.

River City nominee Najjaar traveled five furlongs in 1:02 for conditioner Dan

Peitz at Trackside Louisville.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com