O'Neill points Iliad to San Vicente, So Conflated to Risen Star

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Doug O’Neill will be dividing up his 3-year-olds among several races locally and out of town in the upcoming weeks, with the newly acquired Iliad remaining home while So Conflated and the filly Shane’s Girlfriend will head to Fair Grounds.

Iliad, the winner of a maiden race at Los Alamitos in his second start Dec. 18 when trained by Bob Baffert, will make his first start since moving to O’Neill’s barn in the Grade 2, $200,000 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 12, O’Neill said. The seven-furlong San Vicente was won last year by Nyquist en route to a victory in the Kentucky Derby.

So Conflated will make his next start in the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 25. He most recently won the California Derby at Golden Gate on Jan. 21, his second victory in three lifetime starts.

Shane’s Girlfriend was to sit out the Las Virgenes Stakes here on Sunday to avoid Unique Bella and will try her luck in the Grade 2, $200,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes on the Risen Star card. Shane’s Girlfriend romped in the Delta Princess in November the last time she was in Louisiana but finished a distant third behind Unique Bella in the Santa Ynez here on Jan. 8.