Sailor's Valentine should move forward in allowance

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sailor’s Valentine, winner of the Grade 1 Ashland here last spring, was scratched from the Grade 1 Madison last Saturday to run instead in the fourth race Friday, a $78,000 allowance that happens to be the first one-mile dirt race of the meet.

“We wanted to look at the Madison, but after we got the one-hole, I was glad to have a backup plan,” said Eddie Kenneally, who trains Sailor’s Valentine for Semaphore Racing and Homewrecker Racing.

Sailor’s Valentine stands to benefit substantially from a March 4 race at Gulfstream Park, a six-furlong allowance in which the gray filly was third in her first out since finishing sixth in the Kentucky Oaks last May.

“Her big thing is two turns,” said Kenneally. “She ran quite well at Gulfstream, considering how she needed the race.”

◗ Gas Station Sushi and Kelly’s Humor, the respective one-two finishers here Sunday in the Grade 3 Beaumont, both appear headed for the Grade 2 Eight Belles on the May 4 Kentucky Oaks card at Churchill.

Whereas Gas Station Sushi was the 2-1 favorite in the Beaumont, staying undefeated in two career starts, Kelly’s Humor was 11-1 when rebounding off two poor efforts to conclude her 2-year-old campaign. “We were really happy with the way she ran on late,” said Brad Cox, the trainer of Kelly’s Humor.