Familiar Four-Furlong Breeze for Weep No More

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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Weep No More trains toward Kentucky Oaks

Central Bank Ashland Stakes (gr. I) winner Weep No More delivers consistency in her workouts, which is just fine with trainer Rusty Arnold.

On April 30 at Churchill Downs, Weep No More breezed four furlongs in :49 3/5. She completed the first quarter-mile of the move in :25 1/5 and galloped out in 1:03.

The move, six days before the May 6 Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) at Churchill, was very similar to Weep No More's final work four days before her upset Ashland victory when the Mineshaft   filly completed a half-mile in the same time.

"That's her. She doesn't work any faster. I think her work before the Ashland was (similar); she did :49 3/5 today," Arnold said. "She finished up great. She's not going to 'wow' you with her workouts; she never has. But she's healthy, happy, and was feeling good this morning. We're ready to go; we'll see if we're good enough."

Ashbrook Farm's Weep No More will carry a three-race win streak into the Kentucky, Oaks but Arnold acknowledged that without her upset victory in the Ashland, it's doubtful the Oaks would have been the target. 

"If she'd been third, we'd be looking at the Black-Eyed Susan (gr. II)," he said. "However she jumped up and improved quicker than we thought, so we're here. She brought us here, and that is usually the best way to get to a race."

In terms of her actual birthday, Weep No More will not turn 3 until May 9. But Arnold is thrilled with the manner in which the filly out of the Storm Cat mare Crosswinds has progressed. Weep No More's second dam is multiple grade I winner Flute. 

After finishing off the board in her Nov. 28 debut going seven furlongs at Churchill, Weep No More is undefeated in two-turn races. She opened the season with a clear victory in a maiden race at Tampa Bay Downs going one mile and 40 yards, and then notched a stakes win at the same distance when she took the Suncoast Feb. 13 at the same distance at Tampa Bay.

That set up Weep No More's memorable Ashland victory. She rallied from 13 1/2 lengths back early and surged past three rivals in the short stretch at Keeneland to win the 1 1/16-mile race.



Arnold said with undefeated Songbird out of the Kentucky Oaks, he believes his filly is one of eight or so who could win. He thinks Weep No More will enjoy the added distance of the 1 1/8-mile test.



"The distance is going to help us," Arnold said. "If there's any confidence we have, it's the mile-and-an-eighth; we're not going to have a problem with that, (but) some of the others may have a problem with that. It's a cliché to say a race is wide open but this race is wide open. Somebody who fires their best race on this day and gets the best trip is going to win. You just hope it's you.

"It obviously is a winnable race. You're not confident you can win it but it's a winnable race and that goes for about eight fillies or so. We're just happy to be one of them."