KENTUCKY OAKS

Brereton C. Jones' Lovely Maria got her five-furlong work in :59 3/5 under jockey Kerwin Clark, while Fletcher and Carolyn Gray's I'm a Chatterbox went in 1:01 under jockey Florent Geroux for the same distance.

"I think we're having a very good morning," Jones said at Barn 43 as his two fillies were walking the shedrow.

Going out promptly at 8:30 a.m. EDT after the renovation break, I'm a Chatterbox was out in front of Lovely Maria by about 100 yards.

I'm a Chatterbox, from the first crop of Munnings  , went in :11 4/5, :23 4/5, :36, 1:01, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14 2/5. Lovely Maria, a daughter of Majesticperfection  , went in :12, :23 4/5, :35 4/5, :47 3/5, :59 3/5, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:13 2/5.

"It was great," Clark said of Lovely Maria's work. "I told the boss I wouldn't swap with anybody. She's on her way up. She worked great this morning; ears up; just very happy to be out there. She's ready."

"Both jocks came back happy," Larry Jones said. "I know when you look at Lovely Maria's work on paper, it's just picture perfect; every eighth was getting faster. Florent told me I'm a Chatterbox, who always starts off a little rank, was able to settle and relax and was in a nice, fluid motion. He was happy with the way she finished up and galloped out. He knows her better than I do.

"These guys know these horses. If I have to give them instructions here then I've got the wrong riders out there. That's the good thing about bringing your team in. They know the game plan, they know what they're doing. Obviously, it has been working for them."

I'm a Chatterbox swept the three stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots this winter. Out of the Lost Soldier mare Chit Chatter, I'm a Chatterbox has won four of six starts and has earned $468,614. She made two starts at Churchill last fall at 2 finishing third in an allowance/ optional claiming race and fourth in the Golden Rod Stakes (gr. II).

Lovely Maria was second to I'm a Chatterbox in the Feb. 21 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (gr. III) in New Orleans and won the April 4 Central Bank Ashland Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland. Out of the Thunder Gulch mare Thundercup, she's 3-3-0 from seven starts and has earned $402,600.

The two will be part of a full field of 14 for the Oaks.

"You can make a case for just about every horse in this race," Jones said. "They all have something on their resume that says, 'Hey, I can win this race.' We love the fact that both of our fillies are tactical; they have early speed and can get themselves into the race and hopefully avoid some issues and difficulties whenever it comes time to run. Hopefully we're seeing racetrack instead of horses' behinds."

The works were in the shadow of Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) likely favorite American Pharoah's five-furlong move in :58 2/5.

"We'll let him win the Derby," Brereton Jones said. "It looked like Lovely Maria did it real easy."

The former Kentucky governor and owner of Airdrie Stud has won the Oaks with Proud Spell in 2008 and Believe You Can in 2012. Both were trained by Larry Jones.

"Every time I've had confidence in Larry Jones," Jones said when asked to compare this year with his previous Oaks chances. "As long as Larry is with me, they're going to feel the same."



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