Blind Luck headed for Hollywood Oaks

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Kentucky Oaks winner Blind Luck, the nation's leading 3-year-old filly, will make her next start in the $150,000 Hollywood Oaks at Hollywood Park on June 6, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said on Sunday.

Hollendorfer considered sending Blind Luck to the $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park on June 26, but said he wants to keep the filly in California for her next start to reduce travel.

"I don't want to fly again right now and then come back and fly again later," Hollendorfer said. "I'd like to have a race on the West Coast. She likes the track here."

Blind Luck has not started at Hollywood Park since winning the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet Stakes here last December. Blind Luck has traveled for her last two starts, winning the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park and the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs by a nose over Evening Jewel. Blind Luck won the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita in February.

The long-term goal remains a return to Churchill Downs for the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic on Nov. 5, with a possible trip to New York for the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 21. Owned by Hollendorfer, Peter Abruzzo, John Carver, and Mark DeDomenico, Blind Luck has won 7 of 10 starts and $1,398,712.

Evening Jewel to Oaks or Honeymoon

Evening Jewel may start in the Hollywood Oaks, but trainer Jim Cassidy said he would prefer to avoid Blind Luck and may point Evening Jewel for the $150,000 Honeymoon Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on turf on May 31.

Evening Jewel worked five furlongs in 1:02.80 on the synthetic main track at Santa Anita on Sunday, her first workout since the Kentucky Oaks. Despite the relatively slow time of the workout, Cassidy was left with a favorable impression.

"I don't think she could have worked any better," he said. "I thought she was into it every step of the way. I'm going to take her to Hollywood next week and work her on the turf. I've got the Honeymoon in the back of my mind."

The Usual Q.T. to have first work since Dubai

Cassidy does not have an aggressive early summer schedule in mind for The Usual Q.T., the winner of four consecutive stakes from October through December last year. Fourth in the $5 million Dubai Duty Free in the Middle East on March 27, The Usual Q.T. is nearing his first workout since his return to the United States.

"He could run in late Hollywood or early Del Mar," Cassidy said. "I could run in the Eddie Read. There are a lot of places."

The Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes is worth $300,000 and is run at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on July 24.