Brisset prepping Talk Veuve to Me for Humana Distaff
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Rudy Brisset is missing a lot of photo ops. The 34-year-old trainer won a couple of races Saturday at Keeneland on the huge Blue Grass Stakes card with jockey Florent Geroux, his close friend and fellow Frenchman, but he was watching 1,000 miles away at his winter residence in Palm City, Fla.
“I stayed behind with Quip,” Brisset said early Monday by phone from Payson Park in Florida, adding that he’s flying with Quip to Arkansas on Wednesday for the Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday. “I wish I could have been there in Kentucky for those races because it looked like a lot of fun.”
Brisset won allowance races here Saturday with Preamble ($3.40) and Lantiz ($94.40).
While in Arkansas, Brisset might be missing out on more fun Thursday when Talk Veuve to Me comes a stout favorite in the featured eighth of nine races at Keeneland. The 4-year-old filly ran in five graded stakes last year after a March maiden romp at Fair Grounds, progressing rapidly with runner-up finishes in the Grade 2 Eight Belles and Grade 1 Acorn, followed by a win in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks. The speedy daughter of Violence ended her year by running fourth in the Grade 1 Alabama and sixth in the Grade 1 Spinster.
Her return from a six-month layoff will come in an $85,000 third-level allowance at six furlongs. She’ll have another Frenchman, Julien Leparoux, riding when she breaks from post 1 in a field of six fillies and mares.
“We gave her a little time after the Spinster and she has done well,” said Brisset.
Brisset said Thursday’s race is a prep for the Humana Distaff, a Grade 1 race on the May 4 Kentucky Derby card.
Talk Veuve to Me is actually still eligible for a second-level allowance.
“We’re jumping a condition because the timing is good – and if she’s good enough to run in the Humana, she should be good enough for this race,” Brisset said.
Talk Veuve to Me is one of a handful of stakes horses in the Brisset stable. Preamble is undefeated in three starts and could run next in the May 12 Gold Fever at Belmont Park if he skips the May 4 Pat Day Mile at Churchill; Positive Spirit is a Kentucky Oaks candidate after finishing second Saturday in the Gazelle at Aqueduct; and The Black Album will run back on Derby Day in the American Turf after being a creditable third in the Transylvania here Friday.
Talk Veuve to Me, whose five Beyer Speed Figures from her maiden win through the Alabama ranged from 90 to 95, has had nine workouts at Payson since early February. She appears to have a decided edge over her Thursday rivals, a quintet that includes Awestruck, who exits a pair of graded Gulfstream races for Rusty Arnold, and Treble, who picks up star jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Rounding out the lineup are Everyonelovesjimmy, Summer Sunday, and Upset Brewing.
First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the feature set for 4:57.
