Rushing Fall to skip Royal Ascot trip

ELMONT, N.Y. – Though Rushing Fall returned to the work tab Sunday morning at Belmont Park, she is no longer under consideration for the Group 1 Coronation Stakes on June 22 at Royal Ascot, trainer Chad Brown said.

Brown said he is considering just training Rushing Fall up to the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 7.

“I feel like she’s not up to making that trip right now, I need some more time with her,” Brown said.

Rushing Fall, who won the first four starts of her career including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, suffered her first defeat in the Edgewood Stakes last month at Churchill Downs.

On Sunday, at Belmont, Rushing Fall worked four furlongs in 50.45 seconds over the Belmont main track.

“I gave her an easy work, I’m just trying to get her energy level back to where it needs to be,” Brown said. “Right now, we have an eye on training up to the Belmont Oaks.”

The Oaks also is the next target for Toinette, who beat Rushing Fall in the Edgewood. Toinette is at Belmont Park and is expected to return to the work tab this weekend, according to trainer Neil Drysdale.

Toinette won the Edgewood just 23 days after she won an allowance race at Keeneland, so Drysdale did not see the need to run her in Thursday’s Wonder Again Stakes.

“She just had a little break because I ran her back boom-boom,” Drysdale said. “She needed to strengthen a bit more and she’s done so.”