Chanel’s Legacy cuts back to sprint

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Chanel’s Legacy will cut back to a sprint distance for the $150,000 Purple Martin on Saturday at Oaklawn, but that does not mean the 3-year-old filly who has stored points for the Kentucky Oaks is giving up on the first Friday in May.

In fact, it might be the perfect springboard to next month’s Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy.

Trainer Lynn Chleborad said a start Saturday does not necessarily rule out the Fantasy, which is later than usual, on April 14. Chanel’s Legacy already has 11 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Oaks, placing her 11th on the list administered by Churchill Downs.

As for the six-furlong Purple Martin, Chleborad said it simply became an option in the last few days because of how well Chanel’s Legacy has bounced out of the Grade 3 Honeybee, a March 11 race in which she finished an uncharacteristic sixth after winning the $125,000 Dixie Belle and $125,000 Martha Washington at this meet.

“She looks good, she feels good, her attitude is good, and she’s kept her weight,” Chleborad said.

Chanel’s Legacy is part of a field of seven 3-year-old fillies that includes fellow multiple stakes winners Golden Mischief, also cutting back to one turn, and Country Candy, second to Chanel’s Legacy in a sprint stakes last fall at Remington Park.

PURPLE MARTIN (RACE 9) KEY CONTENDERS

Chanel’s Legacy, by Dominus Last 3 Beyers: 71-80-70

◗ Chleborad said the decision to target the Purple Martin was made when entries were taken Wednesday, after she and owner Allen Poindexter conferred with jockey Alex Birzer. Birzer took Chanel’s Legacy out for a gallop to check her energy level that morning, as he regularly works Chanel’s Legacy.

“Alex came over and got on her,” Chleborad said. “It was communication between all of us – what we were going to do depended on how she felt to him. She was really happy, prancing.”

◗ Chanel’s Legacy will break from post 5.

“I like her post position,” Chleborad said. “I like that there’s a lot of pace for her to sit right off of.”

Golden Mischief, by Into Mischief Last 3 Beyers: 79-82-53

◗ She is a stakes winner at both one turn and two, in the Letellier Memorial at Fair Grounds and the My Trusty Cat at Delta. She also is one of two entrants for trainer Steve Asmussen. He also will send out Vertical Oak, who in her stakes debut last out finished fourth in the Dixie Belle.

“Golden Mischief, she’s very, very versatile, and this looked like a good opportunity for her as well as for Vertical Oak,” Asmussen said. “Vertical Oak is a very fast filly. Her last race was not her best. She is capable.”

◗ Vertical Oak, a maiden special weight winner at Saratoga, will break from the rail under Luis Contreras. Geovanni Franco rides Golden Mischief.