Chris Block recalls a December 2021 conversation with the Illinois owner and breeder Richard Perkins, wherein Perkins told Block he planned to send him a few horses to train. Block that autumn and winter had kept an eye on a Perkins homebred, Oeuvre, under the care of a different trainer.
“When he told me that, I said to myself, I hope she’s one of them. He sent me three, and she was,” Block said.
Illinois-bred Oeuvre proceeded to win four in a row and nine out of her first 10 starts for Block, her lone defeat during that span a good third in a $471,000 Kentucky Downs stakes. The winning continued the following season, 2023, and at one point Oeuvre had won 14 out of 18 for Block. Now 6, and on the cusp of $1 million in career earnings, Oeuvre is not done yet. She’s part of an overflow field of 13 entered in the $100,000 Bobby Kelly Memorial on Saturday at Fair Grounds, and if Oeuvre continues to race competitively in spots like the Kelly, she’ll race on during 2025.
Oeuvre, Block readily concedes, has declined from her peak, but she also won the Nelson Menard Memorial last month in New Orleans and continues to show spark.
“According to Mr. Perkins, as long as I see she’s healthy and is as interested as she’s been in racing and training, and her attitude is good, he wants to try and run her through her 6-year-old season. I told him you can always make the decision to breed her come April 1,” Block said.
Oeuvre also has been a Fair Grounds win machine: The Menard made her 5-1-0 from six sprint starts at the track. Oeuvre is just about as good on dirt as on turf, and when races like the Menard are rained onto the main track, Oeuvre makes hay.
With only a chance of mid-week showers in New Orleans, the about 5 1/2-furlong Kelly ought to stay on grass. Oeuvre and jockey David Cohen drew post 11, the last of the entrants in the field’s main body, but should drop in for position and have a strong pace at which to run.
At least one of two also-eligibles will scratch into the race since trainer Kelsey Danner on Wednesday said she wasn’t shipping rail-drawn Danse Macabre from Kentucky. Danse Macabre hasn’t raced since August but has turf-sprint form as strong, if not stronger, than anyone in the Kelly.
Accomplished Girl figures to be favored for trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Jose Ortiz. Accomplished Girl failed to handle the Keeneland grass course in October but in her previous race, her first for Asmussen, she sharply won a Kentucky Downs allowance, and Nov. 30 on the Fair Grounds turf she comfortably captured the Pan Zareta.
Asmussen predicted before that race the speedy Accomplished Girl could rate just behind the speed, which she did in a relaxed manner, and a similar trip appears achievable Saturday.
Cupids Crush and Cecile also merit at least minor win consideration. They must beat Oeuvre, who has won more than her share for Block and Perkins.
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