Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Amy’s Challenge will run in Eight Belles, not Oaks
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Amy’s Challenge had enough points to qualify for a start in Friday’s Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks, but she was entered in the Grade 2, $200,000 Eight Belles Stakes instead. The Eight Belles is run at seven furlongs, a quarter-mile shorter than the Oaks.
“I was just making sure all the [Oaks] favorites were still headed that way,” trainer Mac Robertson said by phone Monday from Oaklawn.
Amy’s Challenge is undefeated in one-turn races and 0 for 2 going two turns. She sped off to open-length leads in the Honeybee and Fantasy stakes at Oaklawn, where she finished second and third, respectively.
“We’ve been trying to rate her going long, but it’s tough to rate a fast horse when you’re the only speed in the race,” Robertson said.
Robertson has named Gary Stevens to ride Amy’s Challenge for the first time.
“We hope to lay second or third,” Robertson said. “She won’t be sent to the front in this race.”
Mia Mischief, who won the Purple Martin Stakes after getting beat a neck by Amy’s Challenge in the Dixie Belle, and Gas Station Sushi, undefeated winner of the Beaumont Stakes, will likely vie for favoritism in the Eight Belles.
Others who were expected to enter the Eight Belles on Monday were Hold Her Tight, Kram, Salt Bae, Shamrock Rose, and Talk Veuve to Me.
Pitino not coming to Oaks
As a part-owner of Coach Rocks, Rick Pitino would dearly love to be at Churchill Downs on Friday to watch his filly compete in the Kentucky Oaks. But true to his word following Coach Rocks’s impressive victory in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, Pitino will not be in attendance for the race, opting instead to watch the Oaks from a table at Christine Lee’s restaurant at Gulfstream Park with his son, daughter, and longtime friend Steve Alaimo.
“I have a deep love for the city, a deep love for Churchill Downs, and a deep love for the University of Louisville,” Pitino said by phone Monday. “But I have a deep disdain for a couple of trustees at U of L, and I will not step foot back in the city as long as they are still on the board of directors at the school.”
Pitino, who was fired as head basketball coach by the university last fall, was referring to board members David Grissom and John Schnatter, the founder of Papa John’s Pizza.
Pitino, who owns Coach Rocks with Roddy Valente and West Point Thoroughbreds, has been represented by three Kentucky Derby starters, including A P Valentine, who finished seventh in the 2001 Derby before coming back to be second in both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes later that spring. Trained by Dale Romans, Coach Rocks will be his first starter in the Oaks.
“Dale always said this filly needed more ground, and she’s been training unbelievable since finally breaking her maiden earlier this winter in Florida,” said Pitino. “He predicted she’d win the Gulfstream Oaks and he said she’s continued to train great ever since she got back to Kentucky. So I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best on Friday.”
Pitino has rarely missed a Derby over the past three decades. He had a streak of attending 26 consecutive Derbies snapped when he went to the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in Las Vegas on Derby night three years ago.