Ria Antonia set to clash with 'Vicar' in Risen Star

Dobles, a 23-year-old miss

from the Finger Lakes area of New York State, has been getting on Ria Antonia

and handling her since she came to Englehart's barn last fall.

"The best

day of training we've had here so far was yesterday," she added, "and today was

just as good. She's on a schedule where we breeze her once a week and then

walk, jog and gallop successively in the days after her works.

"'Ria' was just an average filly when she came to us," Dobles said, "but about a

week before the (October 5) Frizette at Aqueduct last fall (where she

finished fifth) she started to show us what kind of filly we had. Then we

went out to California for the Breeders' Cup and she ran a very good race there

(finishing an impeded second by a nose before being awarded the victory.)

"She kind of takes to anything," Dobles said when asked if the unusually cold

weather in New Orleans lately had affected the filly. "It was warm in

California when we went there last fall and since it's gotten so cold here at

Fair Grounds lately she enjoys that, too.

"Two weeks after California we gave her about 30 days off in Florida," Dobles

said. "I went to Hong Kong with our horse King Kreesa (for Sha Tin's Hong Kong Mile) but I got back with

'Ria' at Belmont and we breezed

her three-eighths there (:36 3/5 January 5) before coming down here.

"She's really very fresh right now," Dobles said, "but she's usually a laid back

kind of filly. When she first goes out on the track she starts playing a

little bit, but once she really starts going she's all business."

"I've been working for Jeremiah for four years, now. When I

first started exercising horses I thought I wanted to be a jockey, but now I

realize I'd much rather be an assistant working with the horses and

communicating with them. It doesn't matter to me whether they are worth

$4,000 or $4 million. I treat them all the same, but naturally there's a

lot more pressure with a horse like her."

"Jeremiah will be coming down here February 8," Dobles concluded.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com