Condo Commando puts in work for Kentucky Oaks

OZONE PARK, N.Y – Condo Commando returned to the work tab Thursday at Aqueduct with a half-mile move in 48.67 seconds in preparation for the $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 1.

It was the fastest of nine breezes at the distance Thursday morning and the first breeze for Condo Commando since her 2 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2 Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct on April 4.

Under Gustavo Rodriguez, the assistant trainer to his brother Rudy, Condo Commando went her first eighth in 12.57 seconds, the quarter in 24.92, and she got her final quarter in 23.75 seconds. Condo Commando galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.76 and pulled up six furlongs in 1:17.09.

Turning into the stretch of the work, Condo Commando did throw her head to the right and came several paths off the rail.

“We put a ring bit on her,” Gustavo Rodriguez said. “Maybe she didn’t like that. We got to go back to the regular bit. She breezed nice; she did everything on her own.”

Rodriguez thought Condo Commando went in 49 or 50 seconds.

“I never asked her for anything,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said Condo Commando’s workout was moved up by a day due to the threat of rain Friday. He said Condo Commando likely will van to Kentucky on Saturday and get in at least one work at Churchill Downs before the Oaks.

Condo Commando will go into the Kentucky Oaks as one of the favorites based on her record of five wins from six starts, including a trio of graded stakes victories. Her five wins, including the Grade 1 Spinaway, have come by a combined margin of 44 lengths. She will be ridden by Joel Rosario in the Oaks.