(Trainer Joe Sharp / Photo by Coady Media)

From the Keeneland Media Team / Amy Owens:

  • CREOLE CHROME, REAGAN’S HONOR WORK TOWARD TOYOTA BLUE GRASS
  • PERCY’S BAR SET FOR 2026 DEBUT IN CENTRAL BANK ASHLAND
  • WORK TAB
  • KEENELAND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR GABBY GAUDET IS ALL ABOUT RACING
  • PROSPECTIVE FIELDS FOR OPENING WEEKEND STAKES

CREOLE CHROME, REAGAN’S HONOR WORK TOWARD TOYOTA BLUE GRASS

On a brisk Saturday morning at Keeneland, two prospective entrants for the $1,250,000 Toyota Blue Grass (G1) on Saturday, April 4 put in half-mile works over a fast track.

First was Three Diamonds Farm’s Creole Chrome, who worked the half-mile in :49 in company with trainer Joe Sharp aboard.

Working in company with 3-year-old maiden winner Stepping Stones and 4-year-old allowance winner Awesomesauce, Creole Chrome started a length behind his stablemates and finished 2 lengths in front.

“We wanted to put him behind horses and he was very relaxed and when the rail opened up, he just took off,” Sharp said. “He gave me a good feeling galloping out.”

The Toyota Blue Grass will be the first venture into open company for the Louisiana-bred Creole Chrome, who has won three of four starts.

His most recent race resulted in a 6¾-length romp in his two-turn debut. The performance led to Sharp and owner Kirk Wycoff thinking about a bigger stage for the Volatile colt.

“We considered the Wood Memorial (G2) or the (Stonestreet) Lexington (G3) but after this work I’d say he is 80% Blue Grass,” Sharp said. “He can run out of his own stall, so we will take a swing.”

Sharp said Tyler Gaffalione would have the mount.

“I think Tyler will fit this horse well,” Sharp said.

Closely following Creole Chrome’s work was a half-mile breeze in :48 for West Point Thoroughbreds, David Ingordo and Gabriel Duignan’s Reagan’s Honor for trainer Cherie DeVaux.

Working with the undefeated Remember Mamba, Reagan’s Honor turned in his fourth breeze since a dominating allowance victory at Fair Grounds on Feb. 19.

“He had worked here before (last spring) and it was an easy work for him, steady throughout and he galloped out well,” DeVaux said.

Jose Ortiz, who won the 2018 Toyota Blue Grass on Good Magic, has the call on Reagan’s Honor.

PERCY’S BAR SET FOR 2026 DEBUT IN CENTRAL BANK ASHLAND

Hat Creek Racing’s Percy’s Bar, one of the leading 2-year-old fillies of 2025, is slated to make her 2026 debut Friday in the 89th running of the $750,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1) on opening day of the Keeneland Spring Meet.

Trainer Ben Colebrook had toyed with the idea of an earlier start to her 3-year-old season, “but the weather got away from us.”

Percy’s Bar’s initial work following a troubled third-place finish in the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) came Jan. 6 here, but that was it for timed workouts for six weeks.

Since returning to the work tab Feb. 17, Percy’s Bar has had five drills. The most recent came March 24 with a :47.40 half-mile that was the fastest of the morning.

“She has been breezing spectacularly and doing it all on her own. We haven’t really asked her and the past four works have all been bullets,” Colebrook said. “The works have been so strong that I have spaced them out and she won’t work again (before the Central Bank Ashland).”

Percy’s Bar won her first start here last spring and in her two-turn debut last fall crossed the finish line first in the Darley Alcibiades (G1) only to be disqualified for interference in the stretch.

“She stacked up pretty well with the 2-year-olds last year, and this will give us chance to see where she stacks up at 3,” Colebrook said. “She has turned the right way going from 2 to 3 and she has a lot more muscle.

“Going into a Grade 1 without a prep is a lot to ask, but I couldn’t be happier with the way she is training.”

Luan Machado retains the mount for the Central Bank Ashland. Post positions for the race will be drawn Monday.

The Central Bank Ashland offers 200 qualifying points toward the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) to be run May 1 at Churchill Downs. A victory or second-place finish Friday by Percy’s Bar likely would secure a spot in the starting gate for the race, which is limited to 14 starters.

“The Oaks, we’d have to be first or second, and if we are not we probably shouldn’t go,” Colebrook said. “It’s a long year and she had a long season last year going from April until the end of October.”

WORK TAB

X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables, SF Racing and Blue Horseshoe Racing’s Clicquot worked a half-mile in :48.20 in company for trainer Brendan Walsh in preparation for an expected start in next Saturday’s $650,000 Resolute Racing Madison (G1).

The Resolute Racing Madison would mark the 2026 debut for Clicquot, who won the Cotillion (G1) in September before closing 2025 with a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Del Mar.

KEENELAND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR GABBY GAUDET
IS ALL ABOUT RACING

Keeneland’s 2026 Spring Meet, which opens Friday, April 3, marks the second racing season here for noted Thoroughbred racing television analyst and reporter Gabby Gaudet, who became the track’s Director of Communications last September. In this role, Gaudet is helping to guide Keeneland’s messaging and media strategy across multiple platforms while serving as a key spokesperson for the organization.

Gaudet, who is from a racing family in Maryland, joined Keeneland from FanDuel TV (formerly TVG), where she was a lead racing analyst and reporter since 2019 and covered the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships and other major events. She has had a long-standing relationship with Keeneland, including co-hosting the race-day preview show “Today at Keeneland” first for TVG and now for Keeneland. Formerly a U.S. sales representative for Keeneland, Gaudet in 2020 became the first female to announce at a public Thoroughbred auction at the January Horses of All Ages Sale.

Gabby and her husband, Norm Casse, a nationally ranked Thoroughbred trainer, live near Louisville and have two sons.

Q: Tell us a little about your background.

A: My dad was a trainer in the mid-Atlantic, primarily Maryland, and my mom was his assistant. (Her sister, Lacey Gaudet, is a trainer.) My family and I grew up on a farm in Maryland, where we had a small training track and broodmare band. I galloped horses while attending college and then applied to a job as on-air racing analyst. One thing led to another, and I eventually began working on the NYRA Fox shows and then TVG/FanDuel. All that experience led me to taking this new position as Director of Communications at Keeneland.

Q: What is your favorite racing memory?

A: American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown will always be my favorite racing memory. I was at Belmont Park as a fan that year (2015) and got to experience that historic moment live.

Q: What was your first impression of Keeneland?

A: I first came to Keeneland for the 2015 Breeders’ Cup. It was also my first time working a Breeders’ Cup show as a reporter on the “Players’ Show.” It was a whirlwind, to say the least. There was so much anticipation and excitement surrounding American Pharoah in the Classic, and I can’t imagine that storyline unfolding anywhere but Keeneland. The crowd was electric.

Q: What’s something you’ve learned about Keeneland?

A: My focus previously was on racing and sales from a TV coverage perspective. What I’ve found about Keeneland is that there are so many incredibly smart and talented people in many different departments. It’s been great meeting and getting to know everyone in their respective roles.

 

Q: What are your main priorities here?

A: I’m lucky because the Communications Department is so good at what they do already. I’m fortunate to work with such a strong team. I want to think creatively and strategically about how we can share sales and racing-related stories through Keeneland. We live in a multimedia culture now and people consume information in many ways, and that landscape continues to change.

Q: What are you most excited about for the future of Keeneland Communications?

A: I’m excited to continue strengthening our relationships with media locally, across the country and internationally while exploring new and creative ways to showcase Keeneland and the Thoroughbred industry at their best.

PROSPECTIVE FIELDS FOR OPENING WEEKEND STAKES

Following are possible stakes entrants for the first two days of Keeneland’s Spring Meet from Stakes Coordinator Jorie Beschizza:

Entries taken Monday; races Friday, April 3

$750,000 CENTRAL BANK ASHLAND (G1) — French Friction (trainer Mark Casse), Hollybygolly (Rodolphe Brisset), Omaha Bay (Ian Wilkes), Percy’s Bar (Ben Colebrook), Zany (Todd Pletcher). Possible: Sneaky Good (Brad Cox).

$600,000 UK HEALTHCARE TRANSYLVANIA (G3) — Ganaas (Andrew McKeever), Remember Mamba (Cherie DeVaux), Street Beast (Colebrook), Time for America (Michelle Nihei), Vasy (IRE) (Brendan Walsh), Zeppelin (Rusty Arnold).  

$400,000 MIDDLEGROUND CAPITAL BEAUMONT (G2) — A Fine Chardonnay (Wilkes), Baracca (Walsh), Coco Connect (John Ennis). Possible:Sneaky Good (Cox).

$400,000 LAFAYETTE (L) — Arctic Beast (Mike Maker), Carson Street (Walsh), Trouble Calling (Greg Foley). Possible: Oscar’s Hope (Kinnon LaRose).

Entries taken Tuesday; races Saturday, April 4

$1,250,000 TOYOTA BLUE GRASS (G1) — Class President (Pletcher), Creole Chrome (Joe Sharp), Further Ado (Cox), Great White (Ennis), Paladin (Chad Brown), Reagan’s Honor (DeVaux).

$650,000 RESOLUTE RACING MADISON (G1) — Autumn Evening (Jose D’Angelo), Clicquot (Walsh), Sterling Silver (Anthony Margotta Jr.). Possible:Mystic Lake (Saffie Joseph Jr.), R Disaster (Joseph).

$500,000 APPALACHIAN (G2) PRESENTED BY JAPAN RACING ASSOCIATION  — Belle of the Barn (Caio Caramori), Imaginationthelady (Walsh), Lion Lake (IRE) (Walsh), Spirit Doll (Joseph), To a Flame (Arnold). Possible: Alone Time (DeVaux).

$400,000 VALVOLINE GLOBAL SHAKERTOWN (G2) — Clock Tower (Wesley Ward), Full Disclosure (Amzadali Jehaludi), Heart Headed (Sharp), Its Bourbon Thirty (Jeremiah O’Dwyer), Joe Shiesty (Eric Foster), My Boy Prince (Casse), No Nay Hudson (IRE) (Ward).

$350,000 COMMONWEALTH (G3) — Crazy Mason (Greg Sacco), Multitask (David Jacobson), Track Mate (Arnold).

NO RACING APRIL 5, EASTER SUNDAY