Walsh Pair Ships North for Cincinnati Trophy

Brendan Walsh trainees Somethinabouther  and Salt  depart from the balmy South Florida weather in search of Kentucky Oaks (G1) points in the Feb. 21 Cincinnati Trophy Stakes at Turfway Park.

The $175,000 Cincinnati Trophy, a local prep for the March 22 Bourbonette Oaks, awards Oaks points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. None of the race's contenders, including the also-eligible entrant Wondrous , have earned any Oaks points heading into Friday's one-mile contest.

Somethinabouther and Salt, both owned in partnership by X-Men Racing IV, Madaket Stables, and SF Racing, enter the Trophy with a fair deal of stakes and race experience under their belts. The former, a daughter of Mendelssohn  , reigns as the sole graded stakes winner in the field following her neck score in the Nov. 3 Mazarine Stakes (G3) over Woodbine's synthetic main track.

Salt, a maiden winner at Woodbine over the summer and a troubled fourth in the Mazarine, makes her first start for Walsh since transferring from the barn of top Canadian trainer Kevin Attard. With icy winter conditions wreaking havoc on Kentucky since December, forcing track closures, the two Walsh runners ship in with the added advantage of maintaining their training and workout schedules compared to their northern counterparts.

Declan Cannon has the call on Somethinabouther while Adam Beschizza rides Salt.

Local contenders and race favorites Girl Math  and Bracelet  exit professional-like maiden-breaking performances over the Turfway oval for trainers Rodolphe Brisset and Brad Cox, respectively.