Fair Grounds Oaks

Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) exited his win in Saturday's GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby in fine shape and will ship back to trainer Doug O'Neill's California base Tuesday to prepare for the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby. "Charlie looked great this morning," O'Neill said. "He flies back to California on Tuesday. I love the spacing [six weeks] leading up to the Kentucky Derby. It's ideal. He's proven to travel well. I'm very proud of my nephew Patrick [with co-owner Boat Racing]. He's a real good young man and I'm very excited...

'TDN Rising Star' Travel Column (Frosted) and the regally bred Clairiere (Curlin) have developed a competitive rivalry as they proceed down the GI Kentucky Oaks trail, with one apiece from their two prior meetings. Saturday's GII Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks was billed as another match race between the two and it was Travel Column who broke the tie with a decisive score over Clairiere. Awarded 2-1 favoritism over her familiar foe, Travel Column came away running from her outside post in this eight-horse affair, but was out-footed to the lead...

Blue-blooded Clairiere (Curlin) and pricey yearling purchase Travel Column (Frosted) boast one win each from their two prior match-ups and one will break the tie Saturday in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks. Clairiere came out on top by a gutsy neck in their last meeting in NOLA in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 13. Out of MGISW Cavorting (Bernardini), the Stonestreet Stables homebred won on debut going 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs Oct. 25 and was second to Travel Column next out in that track's GII Golden Rod...

It was an eventful weekend on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks, with major preps at Aqueduct (Busher Invitational S.), Oaklawn (GIII Honeybee S.) and at Santa Anita (GIII Santa Ysabel S.). The winners of all three of those races have made their way into our Oaks Top 10. Kalypso (Brody's Cause), who was third in the Santa Ysabel, drops out as trainer Bob Baffert has said he won't point her to the Oaks. There's nothing on tap for the 3-year-old fillies this weekend but there will be a...

No matter what he does, Lookin At Lucky (Smart Strike) seems condemned always to be the short guy in the back row of the team photo. In the private duel that defines his stud career, moreover, he has to endure Munnings (Speightstown) moving ever closer, year by year, to front and center. These two splendid sires, who started out together at Ashford in 2011, experienced rather typical fortunes last Saturday when dividing the big sophomore tests in New Orleans between them (along with those skilled gentlemen, Brad Cox and Florent...

Both the Winchell Thoroughbreds-owned Summerly (Summer Squall, 2005) and Untapable (Tapit, 2014) used a victory in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks as a springboard to success at Churchill Downs on the first Friday in May. That particular double will be delayed this year, but Finite (Munnings), bred by Winchell and campaigned in partnership, can take the first step as the likely heavy favorite in the Saturday co-feature in New Orleans. The current pole sitter on the TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10, Finite enters the Oaks on a five-race winning skein,...