Gray Attempt may await Arkansas Derby

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Gray Attempt, the winner of the $150,000 Smarty Jones in January at Oaklawn, is not certain to make the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel on March 16, trainer Jinks Fires said Monday.

“We could go in if it would be a really short field,” Fires said Monday.

Gray Attempt finished 11th after a rough go around the first turn in the Southwest here in his last start, and missed training after the race due to filling in an ankle. The horse is back on schedule, but Fires said the ideal plan might be to await the Arkansas Derby.

◗ Trainer Steve Asmussen said that She’s a Julie, winner of the Grade 3, $200,000 Bayakoa here last month, is being considered for the Azeri on March 16. Copper Bullet, who ran second by a neck in the Grade 3 Razorback last month at Oaklawn, is under consideration for the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap at Fair Grounds, said Asmussen.

◗ Madaket Stables has purchased minority interest in 3-year-old Comedian, a maiden special weight winner at Oaklawn, Bloom Racing Stable announced Thursday.