Midnight Bisou Breezes for Kentucky Oaks

The designated workout session for Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) horses every day at Churchill Downs is at 7:30 a.m. EDT, and about 1,800 miles away, Allen Racing and Bloom Racing Stable's Midnight Bisou came onto the track at Santa Anita Park at the same time April 28.

A sign at the gap, where the barn area meets the main track at Santa Anita, states training doesn't begin at the Arcadia, Calif., racetrack until 4:45 a.m. PDT, but trainer Bill Spawr blew right past it at about 4:25 a.m. Saturday morning to watch the dark bay Midnight Lute  filly work in the dark.

As soon as the track opened at 4:30 a.m., Midnight Bisou and jockey Martin Pedroza got to business, backtracked a bit, and broke off for her six-furlong drill. She cruised through the early going as usual and finished up well on a track Pedroza called "deep and heavy." As she was cooling out through the shedrow, Pedroza pointed to the dirt still splattered on her legs as evidence.

Her official clocking for six furlongs was 1:13 4/5, although Spawr caught her a little faster in 1:13 2/5. Santa Anita's clockers timed her fractions in :12 4/5, :25 flat, :37 2/5, :49 1/5, and 1:01 1/5, with a gallop out to seven furlongs in 1:27 4/5.

"She's not even blowing," Spawr said as he examined the filly walking by.

Spawr could send the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) winner out for training with the other Derby and Oaks horses at the standard time after she arrives at Churchill April 30, but the likelihood of that is slim for the trainer known well as the earliest of risers in Southern California.

"What time do they open the track there?" the 78-year-old conditioner asked after Saturday's workout.

Midnight Bisou will be one of the favorites for the Kentucky Oaks, but how she handles the trip and new surroundings in the Bluegrass remains to be seen. Spawr, who has beamed about the filly's intelligence since her debut in October, is cautiously confident she'll handle the hubbub of Churchill on Oaks day .

"Saddling her, she gets a little strong, even when she's home," Spawr said of the filly who has only raced in California. "She'll kick at you, but she never turns a hair. It's just a feel-good thing. She'll be tough to saddle, but when she gets on the track, she'll be fine. She wants to get it on. She's so smart."

Midnight Bisou normally gets a three-furlong blowout two days ahead of her races, but because of the timing of the Derby/Oaks week, and when she'll arrive at Churchill, Spawr will likely alter his standard plan. He said Saturday a two-furlong breeze—just allowing her to open up a bit in the stretch—is the current plan for May 3, a day before the Oaks.

Later in the morning Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi's Rayya also put in a workout for the Kentucky Oaks when she ran five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 for trainer Bob Baffert. Champion Unique Bella wasn't far behind during the 6:30 a.m. training session and also covered five furlongs. The 4-year-old filly was clocked in 1:01 1/5 for her first timed work since her second-place run in the April 13 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park.