I'm a Chatterbox Works for Houston Ladies

Multiple Grade I winner I'm a Chatterbox already has at least one goal lined up as she heads into 2017.

Carolyn and Fletcher Gray's homebred filly turned in her first timed move since running fifth in the Nov. 4 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I), working three furlongs in :37 1/5 at  Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Dec. 16 in preparation for her expected seasonal bow in the $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic (gr. IIII) Jan. 29 at Sam Houston Race Park.

The 1 1/16-mile Houston Ladies Classic has been a favorite spot for trainer Larry Jones, as he has saddled two of the race's last four winners in Joyful Victory (2013) and Cassatt (2015). After seeing his current stable star flash good energy in her return to the worktab, Jones is penciling I'm a Chatterbox in as his race representative for 2017.

"We try to make a habit out of running something in there every year and she was the one who said she was willing to go over there this time," Jones said. "So we're putting her name on the schedule. She's done well. 

"We left her in Lexington for a couple weeks (after the Breeders' Cup) and then brought her back down here. She hasn't really had as long as a break as she did last year, so the gameplan is to try and get this race out of her reasonably quick and then we may give her a little bit of time off, since there are not hardly as many high-dollar races for us to think about chasing until we get up to the Delaware Handicap (gr. I)."

A grade I winner at age 3, I'm a Chatterbox continued to build upon that high-level foundation in 2016. Her triumph in the July 16 Delaware Handicap and eye-popping, seven-length score in the Oct. 9 Juddmonte Spinster (gr. I) accounted for two of her three wins from six starts in 2016. She also made the first run at champion Songbird in Breeders' Cup Distaff, setting the stage for three-time champion Beholder to ultimately take down the previously unbeaten filly.

A return to the Distaff in 2017 is the long-term goal for the lightly built chestnut filly. Between now and then, however, a "plan B" may come into play, as both Jones and the Grays have expressed interest in trying I'm a Chatterbox on turf at some point.

"A grass tryout might be in the plans there somewhere," Jones said. "I'll be honest, before her (eight-length win in the 2015) Silverbulletday here as a 3-year-old, we were trying to get her in on the grass at that time. 

"We entered her a couple of times and the races just didn't fill, so as a last-ditch effort, we ran her in the Silverbulletday just to get her to run and learn a little about her. And the rest is kind of history. But if this grass winds up being something she seems to likes, who knows? We've gotten beat by all the other good horses, why don't we get beat by (champion turf female) Tepin too?"