Believe You Can, who
parlayed a win in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks to another in the Grade 1
Kentucky Oaks last spring for trainer Larry Jones, breezed five furlongs Monday
in a bullet :59 1/5 in advance of Saturday’s $100,000
Tiffany Lass at the
Crescent City oval.
“That was her last major prep,” Jones said while speaking
in his tack room Wednesday morning during training hours. “Everything is done.
Now all we have to do is hurry up and wait.
“Right now, we’re very happy with her,” he added. “The last few
weeks she’s come along very nicely so things really couldn’t be going any
better.”
The four-year-old daughter of Proud Citizen has been away from competition
since finishing third in the Grade 1 Mother Goose at Belmont last June and heads
a field of six in the 1 1/16-mile Tiffany Lass. In addition to her two Oaks
scores, the dark bay miss also captured the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds and
was an easy winner of the Grade 3 Tempted as a juvenile at Belmont Park.
Regular rider Rosie Napravnik, Fair Grounds’ two-time
defending jockey champion, was aboard for Believe You Can’s Monday move and will
be in the irons once again for Saturday’s contest. Last May, the filly helped Napravnik
to become the first female rider to win the Kentucky
Oaks.
The Tiffany Lass, which serves as a prep for the $150,000 New Orleans Ladies
on March 9, also drew multiple stakes winner Glinda the Good. The Hard Spun
four-year-old, who just returned from a seven-month layoff in December to take
an allowance at Remington Park, owns a pair of stakes scores from last season
and will be trying Fair Grounds for the first time on Saturday.
Brian Hernandez Jr. has the call aboard Glinda the Good for trainer Steve
Asmussen.
Imposing Grace and Cheerleader bring a bit more experience over the track
into the race. The former, an Empire Maker four-year-old, has run second and
first in a pair of optional claimers thus far at the current meet, while the
latter, a four-year-old daughter of Flashy Bull, is unbeaten at Fair Grounds in
two tries.
Snuggs and Kisses, last seen missing by a neck at Hoosier in late October,
and allowance scorer Myriad complete the Tiffany Lass field.
Two races later on the card, Cor Cor will attempt to get back to her winning
ways while facing seven fellow sophomore filly rivals in the $75,000
Battle of New Orleans going about 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf.
The Smoke Glacken bay captured her first two races, a maiden at Keeneland and
the Sandpiper at Tampa Bay Downs, before running into Kauai Katie in the Grade 3
Old Hat on New Year’s Day. While no match for that one, Cor Cor was easily best
of the rest for trainer Joan Scott and will get a jockey switch to Napravnik for
Saturday’s race.
My Princess Dawn didn’t seem to take to the Polytrack at Keeneland in her
first start, but has been unbeatable in two starts since coming to Fair Grounds.
The Mike Stidham trainee broke her maiden in front-running fashion by two
lengths over course and distance on November 30, then returned in an
off-the-turf contest going 5 1/2 furlongs to score by 3 1/2 lengths on January
6. James Graham was aboard for all three of those starts and retains the mount
for the Battle of New Orleans.
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