Romans hoping for big meet at home track

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Dale Romans is in his element at Churchill Downs, the track where he grew up shirt-tailing his dad, the late trainer Jerry Romans. As well traveled as he is, Romans always seems to do his best right here at home.

“We pretty much point to these meets,” said Romans, the 2012 Eclipse Award-winning trainer who has won or tied for 12 meet titles at Churchill, which kicks off a 38-day spring meet Saturday night with an 11-race card. “We’ve got a nice group of horses coming into this meet, including probably the best 2-year-olds I’ve ever had. Plus, we’re trying to win our first Derby and Oaks.”

Romans, 48, not only is hoping to have the longshot Keen Ice in the Derby lineup, but he trains one of the favorites for the Kentucky Oaks in Birdatthewire, whose victory March 28 in the Gulfstream Oaks was one of the most impressive of all the Kentucky Oaks preps.

“She just keeps getting better and better,” said Romans. “I honestly thought something had gone wrong with her going onto the backstretch in that last race at Gulfstream. The jock [Irad Ortiz Jr.] kept standing straight up on her, and I thought she’d broken down or he’d lost his iron or something. The way she overcame that and came rolling home really was something.”

Birdatthewire figures among a core of favorites for the $1 million Oaks. I’m a Chatterbox is the likely public choice after dominating the Fair Grounds preps this winter for trainer Larry Jones, while Condo Commando, Stellar Wind, and Lovely Maria also will be well backed. As of Thursday, Churchill racing officials were listing more than the 14-filly limit for the race, with Forever Unbridled still the first alternate.

Entries for the Oaks and all Friday races will be taken and drawn Tuesday.