Lovell content to keep Just Might close to home

Michelle Lovell, who trains, co-bred, and co-owns the 6-year-old gelding Just Might, flirted with a trip to Dubai for the $1.5 million Al Quoz Sprint on March 26 at Meydan Racecourse. In the end, Just Might stayed stateside, and in this case, discretion might have been the better part of valor. The Al Quoz, a six-furlong, straight-course turf race, is coming up very strong this year, with a field much deeper than the one American-based Extravagant Kid beat in the 2021 Al Quoz.

Lovell, in fact, isn’t all that jazzed at the prospect of shipping Just Might as far as Oaklawn Park, which has the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint next month. The Count Fleet is a dirt race but Just Might is the rare horse capable of transferring top form between surfaces, In his last dirt race, he easily won the Thanksgiving Classic with a 101 Beyer, one point below his best turf figure.

“We have races we can run in out of his own stall,” Lovell said Friday.

:: For the first time ever, our premium past performances are free! Get free Formulator now!

Just Might will be moving stalls soon, from Fair Grounds to Keeneland, and it’s there, in April, that Lovell plans to next start the gelding. The obvious spot is the April 9 Shakertown, a $350,000 turf race over 5 1/2 furlongs. Just Might has been no bueno in the last two renewals of the Grade 2 Shakertown, finishing ninth and 10th, but did run well over the Keeneland grass course in October 2020, finishing third behind Leinster and Extravagant Kid in the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes. Keeping her options open, Lovell also nominated Just Might to the $300,000, Grade 3 Commonwealth, a seven-furlong dirt race on the same Keeneland card. Seven furlongs would push against Just Might’s distance limitations – though it’s a far, far shorter trip than the one to Dubai.