Don't Tell Sophia Back at Oaklawn for 2015
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Grade I winner Don't Tell Sophia, the most accomplished older female runner based at Oaklawn Park the past two years, arrived Dec. 21 and is scheduled to work this weekend in preparation for her 2015 debut.
Trainer Phil Sims is considering a start in the $100,000 Pippin Stakes Jan. 17 for the mare, who turns 7 Jan. 1.
“She looks great right now,” said Sims, who co-owns Don’t Tell Sophia with Jerry Namy. “She’s all dappled out.”
Don’t Tell Sophia is the two-time defending winner of the Pippin and Bayakoa Stakes who also finished second in the 2013 Azeri Stakes (gr. III), third in the 2013 Apple Blossom Handicap (gr. I), and third in the 2014 Azeri (gr. II).
“We’ll try the series of stakes here again and see how it goes,” Sims said.
A quarter crack forced Don’t Tell Sophia to miss the 2014 Apple Blossom and sidelined her until late summer. She resurfaced in Kentucky and made a late bid for divisional honors with a comeback victory in the $100,000 Locust Grove Stakes Sept. 6 at Churchill Downs, then her most important career triumph to date, the $500,000 Spinster Stakes (gr. I) Oct. 5 at Keeneland.
Don’t Tell Sophia closed 2014 with runner-up finishes in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (gr. I) Oct. 31 at Santa Anita Park and the $200,000 Falls City Handicap (gr. II) Nov. 27 at Churchill. She has earned $909,597 this year, pushing her career total to $1,382,479.
Sims purchased the 6-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Congaree for only $1,000 at the 2009 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Sims said there was thought of retiring Don’t Tell Sophia at the end of 2014, but he decided against it because the mare continues to flourish physically. He said she was in light training in Kentucky before arriving in Hot Springs to prepare for what will be her final year of racing.
“We’ll take her through the series here, and if she does well, we’ll give her the summer off and then bring her back for a few races in the fall,” Sims said. “That will be it.”
Sims said Joe Rocco Jr., who is scheduled to ride at the 2015 Oaklawn meeting, will continue as Don’t Tell Sophia’s regular rider. Rocco was aboard Don’t Tell Sophia for her victories in the Locust Grove and Spinster.