HOT SPRINGS -- Trainer Lynn Chleborad said she knows the test will get a bit tougher this time.
Her filly Chanel's Legacy seemed in control throughout the Dixie Belle Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Jan. 21 under jockey Alex Birzer. The ease of her 2½-length victory at 6 furlongs made the choice in regards to the next race for Chanel's Legacy easy for Chleborad.
Race 2 of Chanel's Legacy's Oaklawn season comes today in the $125,000 1-mile Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Post time is scheduled for 4:38 p.m.
Chanel's Legacy started the Dixie Belle at odds of 6-1, and despite her, she is listed at 12-1 on the Martha Washington morning-line, behind five of nine scheduled starters on the list.
"I don't want to downplay any of the ones she ran with the time before, but this one will test her," Chleborad said.
Torrent is the morning-line favorite at 3-1, followed by Perfect Wife at 7-2, Lovely Bernadette and Benner Island at 4-1, and Ever So Clever at 9-2.
Brad Cox, trainer of Benner Island, said every filly in the field has a chance.
"This is a real solid race," Cox he said.
Benner Island has not raced since she won a 1-mile optional claiming race at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 26, but Cox said he was unconcerned about this layoff because Benner Island's victory at Churchill came after a seven-week layoff.
Benner Island went 6 furlongs on a fast track in 1:11.0 en route to a finish in 1:35.8.
"She had a break before that race at Churchill, and that was the best race of her life," Cox said. "I don't think fitness will be an issue. We've got her pretty tight.
Joe Rocco is scheduled to ride Benner Island, who worked five furlongs in 1:01.8 on Feb. 4, and a half mile 48.2 on Jan. 28.
Morning-line favorite Torrent, trained by Ron Moquett, won an optional-claiming mile at Oaklawn on Jan. 20. It was her second victory in the last four of her six career starts. She finished the race over a surface rated good in 1:40.6.
Kenny McPeek-trainee Perfect Wife won the $100,000 one-mile Trapeze at Remington Park in Oklahoma City on Dec. 11. She led from gate to wire to finish in 1:38.2 and earn the top last-race Brisnet speed figure in the field.
If she starts, Chanel's Legacy will be making the third start at a mile in her seven-career start. She has finished fourth and in two previous 1-mile races -- at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., on Nov. 9, and at Remington Park on Dec. 11, but Chleborad said Chanel's Legacy was one work short of optimal fitness in those first two 1-mile races.
"She's going into this race as good as we can get her," Chleborad said. "This race should really show us if she can handle the distance or not. That's what I think."
Perhaps more significant than the distance, Chleborad said, is the difficult of competition.
"I'm anxious to see," she said. "It'll tell us a lot about her. If she can handle it, fine, and if she can't, well, we tried."
Sports on 02/11/2017