Both of trainer Larry Jones' fillies put in their final works this morning, both breezing five furlongs under rider Gabriel Saez.
Proud Spell was the first of the pair to work, covering the distance in :58.20, and turning in splits that registered :11.40, :22.60, :34.40 and :46.40. She galloped out in 1:12.80.
After she was escorted back to Jones' barn, stablemate Eight Belles turned in a slightly faster work with a final time of :58.40 and fractions of :11.40, :22.60, 34.20 and 45.80, and a gallop out in 1:12.80.
Of 62 horses that worked that distance, only Derby contender Colonel John turned in a faster time than Jones' fillies, the colt's bullet was clocked in :57.80.
A link to all of my photos for the day can be found here.
Proud Spell
Former Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones, the owner and breeder of Proud Spell, said after the work that he will pull his filly from consideration for the Derby and will point her toward the Kentucky Oaks on Friday.
“If the Governor says it, it’s true,” the trainer said when asked about the decision to run in the Oaks. "We will go there and that’s her only choice now."
“She’s a girl, you’re supposed to run girls in the Oaks, right?” Jones joked.
Jones said he thinks Proud Spell is the one to beat in the Derby.
"I think she’s the number one filly in the country. We beat what they thought was the number one filly in the country, the one that was undefeated," he said of Indian Blessing, who is off the Oaks trail.
Eight Belles
The trainer said that as Saturday approaches, he and owner Rick Porter are leaning toward entering filly Eight Belles into the Derby.
“I mean there's no doubt, and the closer we get, the more sure that’s where we’re going to go," he said. "Her name will be on the entry box on the Oaks as well… but we plan to run Eight Belles in the Derby."
He said the lack of a stand-out and almost every contender having a question makes the decision to run his Eight Belles against the boys easy.
"We like to try to convince ourselves that the boys are vunerable this time," he said.
"You don’t win a Derby off of just three races, ask Curlin," Jones said of probable Derby favorite Big Brown.
"And it’s hard to think Colonel John – although he worked super this morning I hear – he’s only been proven on synthetic surfaces, so you’ve got to take a gamble that maybe he won’t be as good on the dirt," he said.
Jones will readily admit that his filly is trying to buck some conventional wisdom too.
"They’re telling me now, since we’re deciding to go to the Derby, that no filly has ever won the Derby without beating boys first, and the only time she’s ever beat the boys is in the morning beating up on my other boys around in the barn working on them," Jones said.
"They say you can’t win the Derby without a mile and an eighth race, and she’s only raced a mile and a sixteenth – everybody has a reason why they’ll get beat if they get beat."
"But we’re pleased with what we do, we know our filly will match up with them structurally, she’s as big as they are, we feel like we’ve got a true mile and a quarter horse whether we’ve raced past a mile and a sixteenth or not…plus we’re going to get a five pound allowance.”
Even with those question, Jones said that short of a far outside post, his filly will be Derby bound.
“We’re just not going to draw 19 or 20,” he said. When pressed on what would happen if he did get a bad post position, Jones said going in the Oaks instead would certainly be under consideration.
“If we get 20 we’re going to discuss it,” he said. “We don’t want to give 19 boys all the advantage.”
“As I told Mr. Porter, I really feel better about her at a mile and a quarter than I did Hard Spun,” Jones said.
Jones said that with Proud Spell targeting the Oaks and Eight Belles targeting the Derby, it allows him to try to win both races.
“It’s just a good fit," he said. "And I think the owners are trying to help me keep these fillies apart… I wanted to try to dead heat them in the Oaks, and we didn’t know if that would work."
"We feel good about both spots," he said. "We love the way both horses worked, they went well… everything is good."
Former Ky Governor Brereton Jones today decided
to enter his filly Proud Spell in the Oaks insead of Derby
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