Taris back training with Ballerina as target

ARCADIA, Calif. – Taris, who was held out of the $300,000 Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday because of a sore foot, returned to racetrack training on Wednesday.

Trainer Simon Callaghan said Taris jogged at Santa Anita. The 5-year-old mare will be pointed for the $500,000 Ballerina Stakes for fillies and mares at seven furlongs at Saratoga on Aug. 27. Callaghan said he had hoped to try Taris against males in the Grade 1 Triple Bend at seven furlongs until the mare missed training time this month.

“Her foot is cool now,” Callaghan said. “It was frustrating, but you need to be 110 percent. She was 90 percent, and you can’t breeze a filly like her when they’re at 90 percent.”

There is a possibility that the Ballerina could be the final start for Taris before the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint here on Nov. 5.

“The Ballerina and the Breeders’ Cup are the most important races for her,” Callaghan said.

Taris won the Grade 1 Humana Distaff Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 7.

The Triple Bend field is expected to be led by Kobe’s Back, a winner of two Grade 2 stakes here this year – the Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs in February and the San Carlos Stakes at seven furlongs in March. Kobe’s Back was third to Catalina Red in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes at seven furlongs on May 7.

Other expected runners are Ambitious Brew, Cautious Giant, Clever Royal, Coastline, Home Run Kitten, Lord Nelson, and Subtle Indian. Wild Dude, the winner of the Grade 2 Kona Gold Stakes on May 21, has been exported for eventual stallion duty in South Korea, said Dan Ward, assistant to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.