Schultz excited to have options with Pink Ruby
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Pink Ruby might not stay on turf long, but after picking up her first stakes victory in the $125,000 All Brandy at Colonial Downs last weekend, the 4-year-old filly clearly found a new dimension. Trainer Lindsay Schultz said she’s excited to have options moving forward.
“She has some grass further back in her pedigree, and we’ve always had it in our mind to try it and this seemed like the right” spot, Schultz said. “She’s a Virginia-bred, so we got to really thinking we got a good opportunity here.”
Once a promising 3-year-old, Pink Ruby tailed off last summer, missed nearly five months, and needed about as much time to get back to her best form. She seemed like herself again in April and rattled off two straight victories at Oaklawn and Delaware Park before finishing a close third in the $100,000 Maggie L. Walker at Colonial.
Schultz said she was nervous to try the Virginia-bred filly on turf in the midst of a hot streak on dirt, but the state-restricted All Brandy was the ideal spot for her debut on the surface. She and jockey Sonny Leon dueled for the early lead and held off the late-closing Nick’s Notion to win by a neck. She earned an 81 Beyer Speed Figure.
“It was a good spot and she fit in the race,” Schultz said. “It was a good opportunity, and we weren’t going to lose anything if she had a bad start on the grass.”
Despite earning her first stakes victory on turf, Pink Ruby remains a strong dirt runner and will likely return to that surface for her next start. The filly also is Delaware-certified, and Schultz said she plans to target the $75,000 Ogletown Handicap on Sept. 11 at Delaware.
If all continues to go well, Schultz said the filly could be an excellent candidate to continue racing over the winter. The trainer shifts much of her operation from Monmouth to Oaklawn every year, and the $150,000 Pippin could be a long-term goal on Dec. 19. The 1 1/16-mile dirt race would be the filly’s biggest victory, but she has shown plenty already this year to warrant that race as a goal.
While Pink Ruby prepares for another state-restricted race, her frequent training partner Baby Vino was nominated for the Grade 1 Travers last week and is training up to his next test. On Saturday, the Grade 1 Haskell winner completed a five-furlong workout at Monmouth in 1:00.40, earning a positive update from Schultz.
“We made sure we got a good, solid work in him at Monmouth this past weekend,” Schultz said. “We’re trying to see if we can get him and keep him in top form for the Travers and take our shot.”
No horse has won the Haskell and Travers since Point Given achieved the feat in 2001. Summer Bird and Keen Ice came out of runner-up finishes in the Haskell to win the Travers in 2009 and 2015.
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