Happy Trails at Oaklawn

Like countless owners, Marshall Gramm has a race circled on the first Saturday in May. But it's not the “Greatest Two Minutes in Sports,” aka the Kentucky Derby.

Gramm's affection is for a race that lasts approximately three minutes, a 1 3/4-mile event at Oaklawn Park with a history, albeit, esoteric, of its own. The “Trail's End,” a starter-allowance marathon, is traditionally the final race each season at Oaklawn, the Hot Springs, AR, venue that opened in 1905. The 1 3/4-mile race debuted in 1972 and has been won the last three years by Ten Strike Racing, a highly successful racing syndicate founded in 2016 by Gramm and Arkansas native Clay Sanders, and trainer Bentley Combs.

“It means the world to me,” said Gramm, a noted handicapper and economics professor at Rhodes College in Memphis. “I set my calendar by it. Again, it's hard to imagine ever being in a position to own like a Derby horse, even though we put together partnerships, and to be in a position to spend the kind of money to chase those kind of dreams. A Trail's End horse, a guy like me, claim a horse for $10,000 and take a shot. It's great.”

Marshall Gramm | Lucas Marquardt

Oaklawn senior vice president Eric Jackson said he believes the Trail's End was the brainchild of the late W.T. “Bish” Bishop, an iconic figure at Keeneland before becoming Oaklawn's general manager in 1978. A visionary, Bishop was instrumental in creating Oaklawn's popular Racing Festival of the South in 1974. It featured a stakes race each day during the final week of the meeting.

Prior to the Trail's End, Oaklawn had ended its season with a non-descript race, 1 mile and 70 yards, 1 1/16 miles or 1 1/8 miles, for lower-level claimers immediately following the Arkansas Derby. The 1 3/4-mile Trail's End starts in the six-furlong chute and covers three turns, making it the longest race each season at Oaklawn.

“It's without a doubt one of the neatest things about Oaklawn,” said Jackson, a Hot Springs native who became Oaklawn's director of operations in 1979 and succeeded Bishop as general manager upon his death in 1987. “The only time we screwed it up is when we ran it as the first race. I think (racing secretary) Pat Pope had a shortage of horses. When we ran it as the first race, we heard about it from everybody in the grandstand.”

What gives the Trail's End added zest is the buildup throughout the day and, ultimately, a sentimental twist at the end. The horses stop and face the crowd during the post parade as “Auld Lang Syne” is played by the bugler.

“That's beautiful,” said jockey Martin Garcia, who has won the last two runnings of the Trail's End. “That's really beautiful because that's like an appreciation to all those people that have come. That's the last day and last race and kind of a thank you to them for being here this year with us. Believe it or not, all those people, the public, that means a lot to us because they're coming to see and support us.”

Garcia guided favored Hellorhighwater (Ghostzapper) ($5.20) to a 10 1/2-length victory May 6. A 7-year-old gelding, Hellorhighwater covered 1 3/4 miles over a fast track in 3:00.10.

Garcia, Ten Strike and Combs also teamed to win the 2022 Trail's End with Original Intent (Creative Cause). Original Intent won the 2021 Trail's End under Ramon Vazquez.

Combs joined David Vance as the only trainers to win the Trail's End three consecutive years. Vance captured the first three runnings (1972-1974), all for powerhouse Arkansas owner Dan Lasater.

Reflecting its popularity, the Trail's End had a $125,000 purse the last two years, a colossal sum for the starter-allowance level. It has averaged 11.8 starters the last four years.

“This race right here, now don't get me wrong, it's almost like that treasure island for me at this point,” Combs, 35, jokingly, said.

“It's a $125,000 starter ($10,000). Don't tell people about this damn thing, although I'm sure Pat's going around saying, 'Tell everybody about this.' I've got the bug. It's bitten me. We've won it three years in a row. We've tied David Vance and, hopefully, we're looking for the one to go ahead and beat David.”

Combs, who saddled his first winner in 2017 after coming up under trainer Dallas Stewart, said he initially believed the Trail's End was just another race before being in the crosshairs of the pomp and circumstance for the first time in 2021.

“I had no idea,” Combs said. “I went in and saddled the horse and was kind of walking away and some lady looked over and said, 'Have you ever seen this before? I said, 'A post parade? Yeah, I've seen a post parade.' She said, 'No, no, no. The horses face the crowd and we do “Auld Lang Syne” and all this stuff.' I didn't know it was that big of deal and I kind of got worried that my horse was going to get loose, to be completely honest. Like I said, I had no idea. It's kind of funny because it's Marshall's biggest thing and now he's kind of got the bug bitten in me. It's like, 'Man, we've got to point towards this race.' It's really cool when everybody sings the song and the stuff like that.”

The 2023 Trail's End was for 3-year-olds and up that had started for a claiming price of $10,000 or less in 2022-2023. Combs, on behalf of Ten Strike, claimed Hellorhighwater for $10,000 out of a fifth-place finish Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.

Hellorhighwater won a co-meet-high four races this season at Oaklawn, helping Ten Strike finish third in the owner's standings with 15 victories. Ten Strike's biggest score came with Eyeing Clover (Lookin At Lucky), a one-time fringe Kentucky Derby candidate, in the $200,000 Hot Springs S. for 3-year-olds at 1 mile April 1. Eyeing Clover was a $55,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase.

Ten Strike finished second with its two other Trail's End starters to date–Far Out Kailee (Summer Bird) for trainer Randy Matthews in 2017 and Tiger Moon (Upstart) for trainer Lindsay Schultz in 2023. The Trail's End purse was $55,000 in 2017. The May 6 exacta gave Ten Strike a sparkling 3-2-0 record in five Trail's End starts, with purse earnings of $231,000.

“I'm not from the area and didn't grow up like Clay and some of our other partners following the race,” Gramm said. “I remember learning about it, of course, watching the Arkansas Derby. It was always followed up by this mile and three-quarters race and I loved the tradition and pageantry. I think one of the most underrated moments in horse racing is when they go through the post parade and they turn to the crowd and play “Auld Lang Syne.” I quickly realized this is my kind of race. Claiming race, it's a marathon race, it's a dirt race. I should start looking for horses that sort of fit the profile of a Trail's End horse.”

Oaklawn ran the closing-day Trail's End in April, capping the Arkansas Derby Day program, until shifting its racing dates in 2019. A May close means the Trail's End is now run on the heels of the Kentucky Derby. Gramm attended this year's Kentucky Derby and said he watched Hellorhighwater's victory from a home adjacent to Churchill Downs.

Ten Strike and Lasater, a three-time Eclipse Award winner, are the only owners to win the Trail's End three consecutive times.

“It's my favorite race out there,” Gramm said. “Obviously, I would aspire to win the Derby and stuff like that. I want to win the Trail's End every year. I'm looking right now for a Trail's End horse.”

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Warrior’s Charge Will Target Tinsel Stakes At Oaklawn

Millionaire multiple Grade 3 winner Warrior's Charge is targeting the inaugural $200,000 Tinsel Stakes Dec. 18 at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, Ark., for his next start, Liz Crow, racing manager for the horse's co-owner, Ten Strike Racing, said Thursday afternoon.

Warrior's Charge, who is trained by Brad Cox, has recorded two workouts this season at Oaklawn, including a five-furlong drill in 1:00 over a fast track Saturday morning. The Tinsel, for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles, is among four stakes created to accommodate Oaklawn opening in December for the first time in its 117-year history.

“That's the initial goal of the season, just to get him started down there,” Crow said.

Warrior's Charge has made eight starts at Oaklawn, recording powerful maiden special weights and first-level allowance scores as a 3-year-old in 2019 before finishing fourth in the Preakness. He won Oaklawn's $500,000 G3 Razorback Handicap for older horses in 2020.

A son of Munnings, Warrior's Charge has bankrolled $1,045,690 off a 5-4-4 record from 19 lifetime starts. Although winless in seven starts this year, Warrior's Charge ran fifth in the $1 million G2 Oaklawn Handicap last April at Oaklawn, second in the $600,000 G2 Stephen Foster Stakes June 26 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and third in the $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile Stakes Sept. 25 at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Penn. Warrior's Charge ran second in an Oct. 24 allowance race at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., in his last start.

“We've thought about it (retirement), but I think we're going to run him through 2022, probably, unless we're able to put something together,” Crow said. “But this is a racing partnership that loves Oaklawn, and they aim for Oaklawn every year and so I don't think they want to retire him with some of these lucrative purses that they can aim for this season. Obviously, if the right deal came along, we'd probably consider it.”

Ten Strike (Marshall Gramm and Arkansas native Clay Sanders) won 10 races, solely or in partnership, during the 2021 Oaklawn meeting that ended last May. Ten Strike campaigns Warrior's Charge with Madaket Stables (Sol Kumin).

Ten Strike, which offers fractional ownership to partners, has 20-25 horses at Oaklawn with five trainers, Crow said. In addition to Cox, Ten Strike also has horses with Jason Barkley, Bentley Combs, Randy Matthews, and Lindsay Schultz. A former assistant under Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, Schultz recently went out on her own and had her first two career Oaklawn starters (Pepper Pike and Capture the Glory) Saturday. Both were for Ten Strike.

“Oaklawn's always a main priority for Ten Strike,” Crow said. “We call ourselves like an Oaklawn-based racing partnership, so certainly always the goal is to win at Oaklawn and run at Oaklawn. I think Marshall and Clay like supporting these young trainers and we pushed Lindsay to Oaklawn to start her career, just because we thought that we be another great outlet to have horses there.”

Ten Strike also races several horses with prominent Arkansas businessman Frank Fletcher, including G3 winner Lady Rocket and unbeaten 2-year-old Rocket Dawg, who is by 2017 Arkansas Derby winner and champion Classic Empire. Lady Rocket was the first starter and first winner for the partnership, breaking her maiden in her August 2020 debut at Saratoga.

Cox also trains Lady Rocket and Rocket Dawg, a $375,000 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale purchase and sharp Nov. 19 debut winner at Churchill Downs.

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“Hopefully, he'll make some starts at Oaklawn,” Crow said. “Really hope he can run in some of those races like the Smarty Jones and stuff, so we'll see. I think that we have some exciting horses that are pointing toward Oaklawn this year.”

Lady Rocket, who ran in two allowances races at the 2021 Oaklawn meeting, was a nine-length winner of the $250,000 G3 Go for Wand Handicap Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y. Rocket Dawg, who broke his maiden by 5 ½ lengths at seven furlongs, returned to the work tab Saturday at Churchill Downs, breezing a half-mile in :49.60.

Lady Rocket is the first stakes winner and graded stakes winner for the Ten Strike/Fletcher union.

“It's gone well so far,” Crow said. “It's kind of a limited number of horses so far. They have only had like six horses together, but it looks like we have two good ones. Fingers crossed about Rocket Dawg. I don't want to jinx him. I want him to stay sound, but we're pretty excited about him. He ran some big numbers. He ran like an 11 Rag and a 3 ½ Thoro-Graph. He looks like he could be a really nice horse.”

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Arrieta Sweeps Final Four Races At Oaklawn Friday

Jockey Francisco Arrieta recorded his biggest career day at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark., after sweeping the final four races on Friday's nine-race opening-day program, including the inaugural $150,000 Advent Stakes for 2-year-old sprinters aboard Kavod ($8.40) for trainer Chris Hartman.

Arrieta, 33, recorded a riding triple, his previous single-day Oaklawn best, on closing day of the 2021 meeting, May 1.

“Unbelievable,” Arrieta said following the Advent, Oaklawn's first stake for 2-year-olds since 1973.

Arrieta also won the sixth race aboard favored Botswana ($5.40) for trainer Bentley Combs, seventh race aboard favored Hypersport ($4.40) for trainer Ingrid Mason and the ninth race aboard Jets a Ginnin ($12) for trainer Scott Becker. The four-bagger pushed Arrieta's purse earnings this year to more than $5 million, a career high.

A native of Venezuela, Arrieta began riding in the United States in 2012 and had ridden extensively the past few years in New Mexico, Arizona, and Minnesota before hiring agent Jay Fedor and changing circuits. Arrieta relocated to Oaklawn for the first time for the 2021 meeting and made a huge splash in the rider standings, finishing third in victories (50) and purse earnings ($3,100,250). Arrieta recorded his first career Oaklawn stakes victory in last April's $200,000 Bachelor for 3-year-old sprinters aboard Jaxon Traveler for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Arrieta was based in Kentucky for the first time following last season's Oaklawn meet.

“I felt like it was a good move coming here,” Arrieta said. “I've been growing here. I was jumping around. It's my second year here, so I feel like I'm home now. A lot of people know me already. I've been riding for the same people in Kentucky and they're coming back, so now they know me and trust me. Hopefully, it will be better than last year.”

Arrieta was leading rider in 2019 at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., and won 250 races overall that year to rank eighth nationally.

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Youth Movement: Barkley, Casse, Combs Join Kentucky HBPA Board

A trio of thirty-something trainers has been elected as newcomers to the Kentucky HBPA board with the addition of Jason Barkley, Norm Casse and Bentley Combs.

Rick Hiles was re-elected as Kentucky HBPA president, with Frank Jones re-elected as the owner vice president and Dale Romans as the trainer vice president. Also re-elected to the board were owners Mark Bacon, Buff Bradley (who switches over from the trainer side), Mike Bruder and Travis Foley and trainer John Hancock. Trainer R.C. Sturgeon and owner James Williams will serve as alternates.

Hiles, who has been president for 21 years with another 16 spent serving on the board, said he welcomes getting the millennials involved. Barkley (32), Casse (37) and Combs (33) join 37-year-old Foley, who was elected to a third term.

“Everything we've got we fought for,” Hiles said. “Every purse, every benefit, every program back here, the HBPA has fought for. I'm glad to see some young guys getting involved. I'm getting old, and so is [executive director] Marty [Maline]. They need to learn, because they're going to have to take this over. It's good to see some new young people coming to get involved. I'm tickled. It will be good for the organization.”

Barkley and Combs are graduates of the University of Louisville's Equine Industry Program in the College of Business. Casse is a graduate of Bellarmine University in Louisville. Barkley and Combs participated in their first meeting when the board was seated and officers elected Nov. 23.

“I was just trying to get my bearings, see how everybody goes about their business,” said Barkley, a fourth-generation horseman from the Evansville-Henderson area who began training full-time in 2017. “A lot of those guys have been there for a while. You try to take your cues from them. I want to be an advocate for the horsemen. Sometimes I feel like the big things get handled and maybe the smaller things can fall through the cracks–things we talk about on the rail, [I can] take those to the meetings.”

“I learned a ton of stuff I didn't even know existed, frankly,” said Combs, who grew up in Lexington and also has an MBA from Ole Miss. “Being on the HBPA board, you get to see the overall business side of it, as far as the money taken in, where it's going, the good causes. The health and welfare stuff they were talking about, I had no idea.”

Casse is a third-generation horseman from Louisville who began training in 2018 after 12 years as an assistant trainer for his father, Mark.

“I feel like I've got a finger on the pulse, so to speak, of what we need,” he said. “I owe horse racing everything. It's the right thing for me to do, to start giving my time and helping other people as well. It's not like I have any preconceived notions. I'm very green when it comes to this type of the thing. But I want to look out for the horsemen and the best interest of the trainer. I feel it's part of my obligation to give the time to do that.”

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