Ward filly solid pick off the turf

CHICAGO - Trainer John Ward has expressed interest in running 3-year-old filly For All We Know in the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes on June 25 at Belmont Park, but first, she needs another race. To that end, For All We Know was entered Thursday in Sunday's seventh race at Arlington, a second-level allowance scheduled for about one mile on grass.

is a dirt horse, however, at least for now. Ward entered her main-track-only, and For All We Know will run only if the race is rained off the grass. That appears possible, with a 50-percent chance of thunderstorms in the area Sunday. If not, Ward must go shopping for another spot, and there aren't any obvious choices in the coming days, at least not at Arlington, where For All We Know has been stabled the last couple of weeks.

On April 28, she won an entry-level allowance race at Keeneland by almost four lengths, running her career record to 2 for 2. In her debut March 21 at Gulfstream, For All We Know scored a neck victory over the Todd Pletcher-trained Talented, who came back with a convincing victory herself at the Keeneland meet.

Purchased last year at auction for $550,000 by owner John Oxley, For All We Know has speed and class and appears perfectly suited to run a one-turn mile at Arlington. On dirt, she is a likely winner, but if the seventh race remains on grass, the handicapping grows dicey.

Besides For All We Know, a full field of 12 was entered in the race, and not one of the fillies stands out on grass. missed by a head racing on this course last season in an overnight stakes race, but she hasn't been out since last Aug. 22. On the plus side, the barn of trainer Christine Janks does well with layoff horses, and Chic Dancer might be sufficiently prepared to win at first asking.

Other than Ward's standout, the most gifted horse in the race might be Jennie R., who has never tried grass. finished a distant fifth in a sprint comeback race April 25 at Hawthorne, but should improve off that effort. She is by Awesome Again, a dirt horse, but out of a mare by Dynaformer, lending weight to the idea that Jennie R.'s connections aren't merely hoping for the race to be rained onto the main track.