September, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Oaklawn To Celebrate Whitmore Day In 2022; Stakes Race, Barn To Be Named For Champion Sprinter

Oaklawn will celebrate the 2020 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner and Champion Sprinter on March 19, 2022, with Whitmore Day highlighted by the $200,000 Whitmore Stakes. Formerly named the Hot Springs Stakes, Whitmore won the six-furlong race four times during his career for trainer Ron Moquett's Southern Springs Stable, Robert LaPenta, and Head of Plain Partners LLC. He also won the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) three times for a total of seven Oaklawn stakes wins, a record he shares with Swift Ruler.

In another move by Oaklawn to honor Whitmore, the Count Fleet barn, which was Whitmore's winter home for six years, will be renamed the Whitmore barn.

“Whitmore was truly Oaklawn's horse and we're excited to honor his accomplishments with Whitmore Day and the Whitmore Stakes next March,” President Louis Cella said. “It is rare for a horse to compete at the highest level for six straight years and Whitmore did just that, never backing down from a fight. This is why he has such a large following of fans not only in Arkansas but nationwide.”

Whitmore Day will also feature an appearance by the Champion, Whitmore t-shirts, and the first 5,000 fans will receive a commemorative Whitmore baseball card.

The now 8-year-old Whitmore won an Oaklawn allowance race in January 2016 in his 3-year-old debut and went on to place in the track's top 3-year-old stakes, which earned him a spot in that year's Kentucky Derby (G1). He did not race again until December 2016 when he won a six-furlong allowance race at Aqueduct, setting the stage for him to become one of the top sprinters in North America. Whitmore's other top wins included the 2017 Phoenix Stakes (G2) at Keeneland, and 2018 Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. He retired in August with a career record of 15-13-5 in 43 starts and earnings of $4,502,350.

“Oaklawn has always been my home track and it was Whitmore's home track, so it's a huge honor to have a stakes race named for him here,” trainer Ron Moquett said. “He was a hard-knocking horse that a lot of people could easily root for whether they put a bet on him or not. The amount of support we have received since his retirement has been overwhelming.”

The 2021-2022 Oaklawn live meet runs Friday, Dec. 3 – Sunday, May 8. There is no racing Christmas week, Dec. 24 -26, or Easter Sunday, April 17.

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Oaklawn Celebrates ‘Whitmore Day’ in ’22

Oaklawn will celebrate 2020 champion sprinter Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) with Whitmore Day, held at Oaklawn Park Mar. 19. The afternoon will be highlighted by the $200,000 Whitmore S., formerly named the Hot Springs S. Whitmore Day will also feature an appearance by Whitmore, in addition to t-shirt giveaways, and the first 5,000 fans will receive a commemorative Whitmore baseball card. Whitmore won the six-furlong race four times during his career for trainer Ron Moquett's Southern Springs Stable, Robert LaPenta, and Head of Plain Partners LLC. Victorious in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint during his championship season, the chestnut also won the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. three times at Oaklawn. He retired last month with 15 wins from 43 starts and earnings of $4,502,350.

Also in honor of Whitmore, the Count Fleet barn, which was Whitmore's winter home for six years, will be renamed the Whitmore barn.

“Oaklawn has always been my home track and it was Whitmore's home track, so it's a huge honor to have a stakes race named for him here,” said Moquett. “He was a hard-knocking horse that a lot of people could easily root for whether they put a bet on him or not. The amount of support we have received since his retirement has been overwhelming.”

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Tim Keefe Reunites with an Old Friend

When Tim Keefe saw a familiar name in the entries at Timonium last Monday, the trainer decided it was time to pay it forward with a horse who had been very good to him half a decade ago. Keefe claimed Monkey's Medal (Medallist) for $5,000 even as the 10-year-old gelding was winning for the 13th time in his 103rd career start on the holiday card at the Maryland State Fairgrounds.

“We all have different ideas on training horses and when a horse has reached its limit and has nothing left to do,” Keefe said of his decision to claim the veteran runner. “I saw he was a 10-year-old and had made 103 starts and I decided, 'Let's give this horse a different career.' I am huge into finding second careers for my horses once they've finished their usefulness here at the racetrack. They all have a second life somewhere. This horse was good to me and he was good to his breeder, Tom Teal, so I made the decision I was going to claim him.”

Monkey's Medal made the first 22 starts of his career for Teal and Keefe, winning five starts before being claimed for $32,000 from a third-place finish at Laurel in April 2016. His subsequent efforts included a third-place finish in the 2016 Roanake S. at Parx. He hit the board in 46 of his 103 starts before retiring with earnings of $437,897.

“He was very businesslike,” Keefe recalled of his days with Monkey's Medal. “He was an awesome horse to be around. He had loads of personality. Obviously, he was one of the soundest horses I ever had. He always went out there and did what you asked him to do. He always went out there and ran as hard as he could and tried as hard as he could. He was always a trier.”

Monkey's Medal has been running like clockwork since 2014, but Keefe said the gelding is in fine shape.

“The horse looked well when I picked him up,” Keefe said. “His legs looked good. He was relatively sound and looks good. He was not some horse in terrible shape, but he's a 10-year-old with nothing left to prove. He was always a special horse and it just seemed like the time was right for him.”

Monkey's Medal has plenty of people to look out for his future.

“I'm not sure yet what we'll do with him,” Keefe said. “I'm going to let him down a little bit and see. I have some commitments from two different owners who have absolutely zero connection with the horse who will help me place him–Cynthia McGinnis and Kimberly Campbell–and his breeder Tom Teal. His old exercise rider Peter Brown-Whale used to be the only one who would ride Monkey and he was always one of Pete's favorite horses. Pete is still galloping for me and he was thrilled when I got him back. He's expressed an interest in him if he can figure out a way how to manage having a horse on the farm. And if not, I'll talk to Laurie Calhoun out at the Foxie G Foundation and see if she can help me place him.”

Keefe concluded, “I think we owe it to our horses to do the right thing by them and I wanted to make sure he would have a shot at a second career doing something off the racetrack.”

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Letter to the Editor: Catherine Parke

The impact of losing David Richardson has taken a tremendous blow to the hearts of the many people that adored him. David was an extremely intelligent, insightful leader who's passion and energy was directed to the greater good of our industry. If you were fortunate to have him touch your life, you ended up a much better person altogether. David died on the last day of his beloved Saratoga race meet.

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