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  • Strut the Stage sire of Head Honcho 1st Alw (May 23, 7th WO). Owner, Annecchini and D'Alimonte Holdings Inc. and Kingfield Farm; Breeder, William D. Graham...
  • Benchmark sire of Planet Sunshine 1st Alw (May 24, 5th GG). Owner, Thomas A. Shapiro; Breeder, Thomas Shapiro...
  • Arch sire of Wiki 1st Alw (May 24, 2nd PID). Owner, Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc.; Breeder, Stuart S. Janney, III LLC....
  • Flower Alley sire of Bouquet Booth 1st Alw (May 24, 7th CD). Owner, Right Time Racing LLC; Breeder, Brookdale & Dr. Ted Folkerth...
  • Medaglia d'Oro sire of Dealer 1st Alw (May 23, 8th CT). Owner, Coleswood Farm, Inc.; Breeder, Family Broodmare, LLC...
  • Holy Bull sire of Catalan 1st Alw (May 24, 8th BEL). Owner, Elizabeth Loftus; Breeder, B. P. Walden & Dr. S. Marcum...
  • Wando sire of Deb's Girly Girl 1st Alw (May 24, 6th RD). Owner, Deborah F. Metz; Breeder, Deborah F. Metz...
  • Petionville sire of Wups 1st Thoroughbred Maiden Derby (May 23, 9th BOI). Owner, Paul Treasure; Breeder, Michael Iavarone...
  • Proud Citizen sire of Citizen Kat 1st Alw (May 23, 7th PEN). Owner, Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc.; Breeder, Mark Reid & Charles Zacney...
  • Successful Appeal sire of Warning Song 1st Alw (May 24, 6th PRM). Owner, Maggi Moss; Breeder, Bloodstock Holdings LLC...
  • Canadian Frontier sire of Golden Frontier 1st Alw (May 24, 3rd CD). Owner, George Fister; Breeder, Brereton C. Jones...
  • Tribal Rule sire of Italian Rules 1st Alw (May 24, 7th BHP). Owner, Barber, Gary and Cecil; Breeder, Nick Cafarchia...
  • B L's Appeal sire of B L's Tsumani 1st Alw (May 24, 7th PRM). Owner, Gary Spragg; Breeder, Frank Bertolino...
  • Latent Heat sire of Heated Troubles 1st Mdn (May 24, 5th RD). Owner, Ashleigh Stud; Breeder, Ashleigh Stud, Frank Ramos & JackieRamos...
  • Luftikus sire of Joyful Kiss 1st Alw (May 23, 7th CT). Owner, Winfred L. Hess, Jr.; Breeder, Ann M. Casey...
  • First Samurai sire of Nakano 1st Alw (May 24, 8th CRC). Owner, Thoroughbred Futures Racing; Breeder, Hubert Vester...
  • Chapel Royal sire of Mr Rodriguez 1st Mdn (May 24, 2nd BEL). Owner, Imperio, Michael and Loftus, Elizabeth; Breeder, Jill Imperio & Daniella Corian...
  • Smoke Glacken sire of Walker Bay 1st Alw (May 24, 8th CD). Owner, Hammersmith, Dennis L. and Paden Racing, Inc.; Breeder, Brian O'Rourke & Derry Meeting Farm...
  • Tapit sire of Quail Hollow 1st Alw (May 24, 8th CT). Owner, Stevark Stable, Inc.; Breeder, Dr. O. M. Patrick...

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Visionaire headed to Blue Grass, Pyro breezes six furlongs

Posted: Monday, March 31, 2008 3:18 PM

Photo: Gotham Stakes (G3) winner Visionaire will use the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 12 at Keeneland Race Course as his final prep for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

VISIONAIRE

Brandon Benson/NYRA photo

by Jeff Lowe

Gotham Stakes (G3) winner Visionaire will use the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 12 at Keeneland Race Course as his final prep for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), which is three weeks later at Churchill Downs.

Owners Team Valor International and Vision Racing and trainer Michael Matz finalized their plan over the weekend after also considering the Illinois Derby (G2) on Saturday at Hawthorne Race Course.

Visionaire arrived at Keeneland from Palm Meadows Training Center on Sunday, and Matz preferred to keep him in Lexington for the Blue Grass rather than ship him back and forth from Hawthorne. Visionaire already made a roundtrip from Palm Meadows to Aqueduct for the Gotham.

“My big worry was having the extra week between this start and the Derby, and I won’t have that now, but he won’t have to ship again,” Matz said Monday outside his barn on a crisp and windy morning at Keeneland. “Considering the whole thing, I’d rather keep him here until he goes to Churchill [for the Derby].”

Matz won the Derby with his only previous starter, Barbaro, in 2006. He elected to pass the Derby last year with Chelokee, who went on to win the Barbaro Stakes at Pimlico Race Course and Northern Dancer Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs. Chelokee returned from a long layoff to win a one-mile allowance/optional claiming race on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

The Cherokee Run colt also arrived at Keeneland on Sunday, although Matz is not sure whether he will race during the spring meet that starts Friday.

Chelokee’s younger half brother, Salute the Sarge, also scored on Saturday in the San Miguel Stakes at Santa Anita Park, and the Forest Wildcat colt has apparently joined the Derby mix. Trained by Eric Guillot, he is scheduled to use the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G2) on April 19 at Keeneland as a final prep for the Derby.

Salute the Sarge made his first start of the year in the six-furlong San Miguel, but he has $258,940 in graded earnings from his two-year-old season, which would likely be more than enough to crack the Derby field, which is limited to the top 20 horses by graded stakes earnings.

Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Pyro and Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) winner Cool Coal Man are scheduled to join Visionaire as the Blue Grass headliners. The cast probably also will include Cowboy Cal and Monba from trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn and Shediak (Fr) for Southern California trainer Doug O’Neill.
 
Pyro breezed six furlongs in 1:14.60 on Monday morning at Keeneland.

Scott Blasi, chief assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, supervised the workout after a long journey on Sunday from Dubai, where he had spent the last six weeks with Horse of the Year Curlin.

The trip took 22 hours, including a layover in Houston, Blasi said. He left Nad al Sheba around midnight on Saturday night following Curlin’s overpowering win in the Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1). Blasi checked up on the colt on Sunday morning before catching his flight.

“It was a long, long day, one of the longest Sundays of my life,” Blasi said. “When you win a $6-million race, it makes it pretty easy.”

After looking over just the one horse for six weeks, Blasi jumped right back into the sea of responsibilities that come with overseeing a full string. Asmussen has 40 stalls at Keeneland.

Pyro breezed in company with Sonoma Cat, a four-year-old maiden winner who is a full brother to Grade 1 winner Bluegrass Cat. Pyro galloped out seven furlongs in 1:27.60.

“They went off a little slow but they finished the last five [furlongs] in 1:00.80,” Blasi said. “[Pyro] worked great and he galloped out huge. He’s just a talented horse.”

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer

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