Blue Prize tunes up for Apple Blossom with Azeri

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Ignacio Correas has made an American racehorse out of the Argentine champion Blue Prize.

Correas worked for months to bring Blue Prize’s natural speed out earlier in her races, and the task was achieved with aplomb in November when she romped by 8 1/2 lengths in the Grade 2 Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs.

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The performance will make Blue Prize one of the top choices in the Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri on Saturday at Oaklawn. The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares will share a card with the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel and the $300,000 Essex Handicap. The Azeri has long been a target for Blue Prize.

“If you want to run in the Apple Blossom, you won’t find a better prep in the South, where we are, than the Azeri,” Correas said.

The field of eight for Saturday’s race includes Farrell, Streamline and Terra Promessa – each of whom would become a millionaire with a win in the Azeri – and Tiger Moth and Actress, who ran one-two last out in the Grade 3, $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston.

Azeri (Race 9)

KEY CONTENDERS

Blue Prize, by Pure Prize
Last 3 Beyers: 96-84-90

◗ She was a front-running winner of the Falls City in her most recent start Nov. 23. The victory came after she had run second or third in five previous starts in the United States.

“I was happy for her, that she put everything together,” Correas said. “She’s always had a lot of talent. She needed to adapt herself to America.”

◗ Earlier in her career, Blue Prize had lagged off the pace and made a stretch run in a style that suited the configuration of the tracks she ran on in Argentina. Correas noted she was accustomed to racing down a three-eighths of a mile stretch as opposed to shorter lanes in the United States.

“If we wanted her to succeed here, we needed her to be closer to the pace,” he said.

◗ Blue Prize capped her championship year in Argentina with a win in her country’s Oaks, Correas said. Following the Falls City, he said, she was kept in “very light training” for about a month before she began serious preparations for the Azeri.

◗ James Graham has the mount for Merriebelle Stable.

Tiger Moth, by Street Sense
Last 3 Beyers: 93-84-67

◗ Second to Blue Prize in the Falls City, she closed from last for a neck win in the Houston Ladies Classic Jan. 28.

“She’s doing every bit as well now as she was going into the Sam Houston race,” trainer Brad Cox said. “Things have to unfold for a horse with her running style.

“She likes Oaklawn. She won an allowance at Oaklawn last winter and was third in this race last year.”

◗ Florent Geroux has the mount for owner John D. Gunther.

Terra Promessa, by Curlin
Last 3 Beyers: 83-78-43

◗ She was second to Streamline in last month’s Grade 3 Bayakoa at Oaklawn. It was the second start since July for Terra Promessa.

“Terra’s doing really well,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “Happy with how she’s training.

“I do think this is a very tough running of the Azeri.”