(My Miss Lilly was photographed by Holly M. Smith prior to the Kentucky Oaks / Photo by Holly M. Smith)

Every day, we scour the work tabs at racetracks all over the country.  We are looking for workouts that may be of interest and helpful to you — as both race fans and handicappers.  Some of the horses we will be tracking, you will know.  Some of them, you may not know — as of yet.  We will keep a keen eye and stopwatch to see who may be working their best and ready for a key race.  Here is a look at today’s top works:

  1. Elysea’s World, a 5YO mare by Champs Elysees and trained by Chad Brown, worked at Belmont Park this morning. The filly is coming off a fourth place finish in the G3 Gallorette Stakes at Pimlico, but before that she won the G3 Suwannee River Stakes at Gulfstream Park in February. Today, she went 4 furlongs on the dirt in a leisurely :49.33, which was the 18th best time out of 35 to go that far. She should turn back up soon on the grass.
  2. Lewis Bay, a 5YO Bernardini filly trained by Brown, has made three starts this year and has a second in the G3 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park; a third in the G1 Madison Stakes at Keeneland; and a third in the G1 Humana Distaff Stakes on Derby Day. Today, she worked a half mile over the dirt track at Belmont Park. She covered the distance in :49.98, which was the 29th best time out of 35.
  3. My Miss Lilly, one of the most beautiful racehorses that I have seen in a such a long time and a 3YO daughter of Tapit, worked at Belmont Park this morning for trainer Mark Hennig. She went a half mile in :48.33, which was the 9th best time out of the 35. So far this year, this talented filly has run third in the G3 Forward Gal Stakes and the Busher Stakes; has won the G2 Gazelle Stakes; and has run 11th in the Kentucky Oaks. She will look to make amends for that last race debacle the net time out. And, I bet she will.
  4. Strike Power, a 3YO colt by Speightstown and winner of this year’s G3 Swale Stakes in impressive form, got back to work this morning at Belmont Park. This one — who also ran second in the G2 Fountain of Youth before burning up and running eighth in the G1 Florida Derby — went a half mile in :48.09, which was the fourth best time out of the 35 to go. Look for this one to shorten back up and find something like the Woody Stephens Stakes on Belmont Day to his liking.
  5. Gronkowski, a possible Belmont Stakes runner who is now in the barn of Chad Brown, worked 5 furlongs in 1:01.87 at Belmont Park this morning. That was the fourth best time out of eight to go the distance. This son of Lonhro is sure to add to the betting interest if he is entered in the last of the Triple Crown races, after he missed the KY Derby when he spiked a fever.
  6. Engage, a 3YO colt by Into Mischief, has flashed a lot of promise and signs that he is ready to do more so far in his brief racing career. To date, he has raced just five times, but has never been worse than second. he won the Gold Fever Stakes in his last out at Belmont Park on May 13, and that came on the heels of a second in the G3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct and a win in the G3 Futurity Stakes at Belmont. Today, he worked for trainer Chad Brown at Belmont Park, going 5 furlongs in 1:01.87 — which was the same move as the power horse above.
  7. Tenfold, a 3YO son of Curlin who nearly shocked the world when he made a power move to run a closing third to the grand Justify in the Preakness Stakes, tuned up for his next appointed challenge to the Triple Crown hopeful in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs. The highly talented and lightly raced colt breezed 5 furlongs this morning in 1:01.60 — which was the 27th best time out of 42. And, it was exactly what HOF trainer Steve Asmussen was looking for, as well. Listen to Asmussen and Tenfold’s owner, Ron Winchell, talk about this talented colt in our “NEWS FEATURE” at www.thepressboxlts.com.
  8. Chocolate Martini, 5th place finisher in this year’s KY Oaks for trainer Tom Amoss, worked this morning at Churchill Downs. The 3YO filly, by Broken Vow, went 5 furlongs in 1:00.20, which was the third best time out of 42 to go that distance. This one has talent, as evidenced by her spectacular win in the G2 Fair Grounds Oaks.
  9. Flameaway, one of the “other” sons of Scat Daddy to run in this year’s Kentucky Derby, worked this morning for trainer Mark Casse. The colt went 5 furlongs in 1:00.60 — which was the 9th best time of the morning. This guy — who ran 13th in this year’s KY Derby after pressing the pace leaders early on — is an Ontario-bred, and is sure to be pointed to some of the major Stakes events “North of the Border” soon. After winning the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa, this one ran second in both the Tampa Bay Derby to Quip and the Blue Grass Stakes to Good Magic. He will be tough to handle at Woodbine.