Yorkiepoo Princess can use Gazelle as Kentucky Oaks springboard

Owner Danny Chen sent trainer Edward Barker two fillies last year that he had purchased at the Ocala Breeders' Sales spring auction of 2-year-olds in training on the advice of bloodstock agent John Shaw. Chen paid $5,000 for Kissin Cassie and $8,000 for Yorkiepoo Princess.

Kissin Cassie has since won $77,000 and three races, including a $25,000 claiming sprint at Aqueduct on March 25. Yorkiepoo Princess will try to earn a spot in the Kentucky Oaks on Saturday when she starts in the Grade 2 Gazelle.

In her last three starts, Yorkiepoo Princess has won the $98,000 Furlough Stakes over the Aqueduct main track, and the $100,000 Ruthless and $150,000 Busher over the inner track. The first two stakes were at six furlongs. The Busher was at 1 1/16 miles.

"I've got her to relax, that's the key," said Barker, who has a 10-horse stable at Aqueduct. "She rated beautifully in the Busher."

Barker, 71, brought Yorkiepoo Princesss and Kissin Cassie along slowly after they arrived at his barn.

"They'd worked for the sale, but I started from scratch with them and used an old-school method to get them ready," he said. "I began breezing them an eighth of a mile every four days, then went to a quarter mile every four days. It builds bone and develops confidence. When I started going a half-mile, it was like nothing for them."

Barker was concerned Yorkiepoo Princess would show too much speed when stretched out around two turns in the Busher. He used a technique that a fellow Aqueduct trainer, 86-year-old Leon Blusiewicz, had taught him.

"I started breezing her from the finish line into the clubhouse turn to get her to relax," Barker said. "We'd get her going slow into that first turn so she would get used to doing it."

Irad Ortiz Jr. has been aboard Yorkiepoo Princess for all four of her career wins, and has the mount in the Gazelle.

"When I told Irad to take her back in the Busher, he thought I was crazy," Barker said. "After the race, he said he didn’t have to do anything, that she took herself back."

The waters get deeper for Yorkiepoo Princess in the $300,000 Gazelle, one of four undercard stakes on the Wood Memorial card, but if Yorkiepoo Princess performs well she'll be headed to Churchill Downs for her next start.

"If we finish first or second we are definitely going to go to the Kentucky Oaks," Barker said.

Yorkiepoo Princess is currently not nominated to the Oaks and would have to be made eligible with a $1,500 payment by April 12.

Miss Sky Warrior, who has won four straight races after being beaten in her career debut, figures to be a solid favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle. Miss Sky Warrior won the Grade 3 Tempted and Grade 2 Demoiselle over the Aqueduct main track in November before heading to Florida. After a brief freshening she won the Grade 2 Davona Dale going a mile at Gulfstream Park on March 4.

Other fillies pointing to the Gazelle include Busanda winner Lockdown, Busher runner-up Full House, and Aspen Hilltop and Stay Fond.