Oaklawn Park: Close Hatches could target Apple Blossom and Ogden Phipps

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – With a winning 4-year-old debut now under her belt, Close Hatches could see action in a pair of Grade 1 races over the next several months. Trainer Bill Mott said Tuesday that the filly’s upcoming campaign could include the Apple Blossom and Ogden Phipps.

Close Hatches won the Grade 2, $200,000 Azeri at Oaklawn Park on Saturday in her first start since finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 1. She set the pace, responded when challenged, and went on to a 1 1/4-length win. For the effort, Close Hatches earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96, almost identical to the 98 she earned in the Breeders’ Cup.

“The race was good, very typical of her previous races,” Mott said. “We’re off to a good start, starting up where we left off. If we can maintain that form and improve a little, hopefully we’ll have a good year.”

Mott said Close Hatches, who was to fly back to her Payson Park base in Florida on Wednesday, is now a candidate for the Apple Blossom. The Grade 1, $600,000 race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles will be run at Oaklawn on April 11.

“We’re looking forward to the Apple Blossom if she trains well in the next month,” Mott said. “If that race didn’t take too much out of her, we’d like to come back for the Apple Blossom.”

Another major objective, he said, is the Ogden Phipps, a Grade 1, $1 million race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles at Belmont Park on June 7.

Close Hatches was an Eclipse Award finalist for champion 3-year-old filly of 2013 for a campaign in which she won 5 of 8 starts including the Mother Goose at Belmont. She is a daughter of First Defence and is owned by Juddmonte Farms.