McPeek looking for Pure Fun to overcome late start with an Oaks win

McPeek looking for Pure Fun to overcome late start with an

Oaks win

Grade 1 winner Pure Fun galloped one mile

on Wednesday during the special Derby/Oaks training period under exercise rider Jose Cano.

The Pure Prize filly, entering Friday's Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks off a seventh

against males in Keeneland's Lexington, didn't get her first timed

work of 2013 until mid-February and has been playing catch up with her

conditioning since. There were no physical problems that forced her to be away

for so long, trainer Ken McPeek said, but she needed a break after eight starts

as a juvenile, culminating in December's Hollywood Starlet.

"We gave her time off, which is typical for us with

two-year-olds," McPeek explained. "But she ran late into the season so she was later

getting back into the game. She gained a bit of weight. I wanted to have her

ready for the Honeybee, which is a dirt race, but she just wasn't ready yet. She

was still a couple of works behind schedule.

"And then we chose the Bourbonette, which was not exactly the surface or the

timing that I wanted. That didn't go well because she came out of that race with

a slight fever. I thought I was going to come back in the Fantasy but that didn't work either.

"I was kind of in between and was like, well, what do I do

now? There weren't any more preps after that; the only one I could find was the

Lexington. Again, it wasn't the surface or the timing I wanted but she needed

the race in order to be competitive this weekend."

While both of her starts this year have been disappointing,

Pure Fun's most recent race over the Churchill Downs surface -- a 9 1/4-length

allowance win in November -- allows for hope that she could still put it all

together on Friday.

"She likes this ground," McPeek said. "I do think she's a

dirt horse. We've got her ready and I'm pleased with the way it's gone. It was a

little unconventional but all of them are."

Juvenile filly champion Beholder was out for

a 1 1/2-mile gallop Wednesday morning during the Derby/Oaks

training period following Churchill Downs' renovation break. Jockey-turned-exercise rider David Nuesch

had piloting duties on the bay daughter of Henny Hughes as trainer Richard Mandella looked on.

Nuesch, along with two Mandella's stable workers, had flown

on the plane that brought Beholder, as well as the Humana Distaff-bound stakes

mare Rumor, to Louisville, Kentucky, from California. He's worked with Beholder since she

came into the Mandella barn early last year.

"She's a smart one," Nuesch said. "And she's a bit of a

drama queen. She'll overreact sometimes; jump at something she sees or bothers

her. Then other times something will happen and she doesn't turn a hair. She

does it all on her terms. She's a good-feeling filly and those kind have a right

to be full of themselves.

"Last year when we won the Breeders' Cup and she had such a great year, it

was hard to believe she was only a two-year-old. She did so many things just

like she was an old horse that sometimes I forgot who she was."

Beholder, who was listed as the 7-2 co-second choice in

the Kentucky Oaks, drew post 3 for the nine-furlong

race. Was Mandella OK with that?

"I'm fine with it," he said. "I'm just happy to be there."

Beholder was scheduled to school in the paddock Wednesday with horses from

the 5TH race at Churchill Downs.

Rose to Gold walked the shedrow at Barn 43 Wednesday morning, a plan she will

follow Thursday morning and Friday morning for trainer Sal Santoro. Listed at 15-1 on the morning-line,

the Friends Lake filly drew post

position 9 for Friday's Oaks and will be ridden by Calvin Borel.

"I would have preferred somewhere from three through six,

but it is what it is," Santoro sighed. "I am confident in Calvin and whatever he

feels is the right thing, he'll do it."

Rose to Gold was scheduled to school with horses in

Wednesday's 1ST race at Churchill.

"She never has had an issue at the gate or in the paddock," Santoro said.

"She is pretty level-headed. I know there is no way you can replicate 100,000

people. It will probably be like Keeneland where everybody is close. The day she

won the Fantasy, there were 30,000 there that day, so this will be three times

more."

The latest forecast for Friday is for temperatures in the

mid-70s with a 10 percent chance of rain. Rose to Gold is two-for-two on sloppy

tracks, including the 4 1/2-length victory in the Fantasy.

"The mud at Oaklawn the day of the Fantasy was so deep that

the woman who presented the trophy took her shoes off to cross the track. She

said she could wash her feet, but not the shoes," Santoro remarked. "So, if you see

somebody lighting a novena candle in the grandstand, it's me."

The 30-1 morning-line odds on Seaneen Girl for the Oaks on Friday don't concern trainer Bernie

Flint.

"No pain, no gain,'' Flint said. "She's always been a

longshot. Most of these classic races, like the Kentucky Derby, I don't care

who's the favorite. They've always got a favorite. Very seldom do they win, so

go from there. The Oaks is the same way. It will be the same way, because I've

got a feeling I'm going to get them...I've got 'em where I want 'em."

Seaneen Girl went off at 19-1 when she finished second in

the Mazarine at Woodbine, 31-1 when she won the Golden Rod at Churchill Downs

and 24-1 when she finished third in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

The Spring at Last filly galloped 1 1/2 miles Wednesday under exercise

rider Edward "Rocky" Seely.

"Wonderful," Seely said. "She came out of her work (Monday) in very, very

good shape. She's going as good as she's been going."

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