Champion Idiomatic Back In Training, Targeting Oaks Day La Troienne

Last year's Breeders' Cup Distaff winner, Champion Older Dirt Female, and finalist for Horse of the Year, Idiomatic will return to the races in 2024. According to the Thoroughbred Daily News, the 5-year-old daughter of Curlin got 60 days off after the World Championships, and has since returned to the stable of trainer Brad Cox and already posted her third work of the year at the Fair Grounds.

The Juddmonte homebred is under consideration for the Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes on Kentucky Oaks day at Churchill Downs.

Idiomatic made three starts at three, earning her maiden win at Turfway Park, but stepped up in a big way as a 4-year-old last year. Overall, Idiomatic won eight of her nine starts, including the Breeders' Cup Distaff, G1 Personal Ensign, G1 Spinster, and G2 Delaware Handicap, earning a total of $2.4 million.

“We did all of the right things with her,” Juddmonte USA General Manager Garrett O'Rourke told TDN. “Huge, big mare as everyone knows. Wasn't any sense in rushing her. We actually turned her out until April of her 2-year-old year and let her grow up a little bit and brought her along slowly. She ran early the next year, needed some time off afterwards, and got all the time and I think all that patience worked to her advantage. She had a tough year last year and got the time off she deserved. She's still relatively fresh and the type of build of a racehorse that should get better with age. Hopefully, she'll continue to do so.”

Read more at the TDN.