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Richest Prep Series Gets Richer At Oaklawn

Oaklawn Park is pumping nearly $1 million more into the purses for its 3-year-old races, the track said in a release Wednesday.

Oaklawn increased the purses of the four races pointing toward the GI Kentucky Derby a total of $600,000, with the GI Arkansas Derby bumped to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000; the GII Rebel S. going to $1,250,000 from $1,000,000; and the GIII Southwest S. and Smarty Jones increasing to $800,000 and $300,000, respectively.

The purses for the three races for 3-year-old fillies with GI Kentucky Oaks aspirations were also increased, with the GIII Fantasy S. increased to $750,000; the GIII Honeybee S. to $400,000 and the Martha Washington S. to $250,000–a total increase of $300,000.

Purses were also increased for 14 additional stakes races, including the two most important races for older runners. The GI Apple Blossom H. and the GII Oaklawn H. were both increased to $1.25 million, jumping the total purses in the stakes program to a record $16.2 million.

“It's absolutely remarkable how our stakes program has grown in recent years,” said Oaklawn President Louis Cella. “We've doubled the number of stakes we offer and have added millions to the purses. We want our fans to have the opportunity to see some of the top thoroughbreds in the country, and increasing the purses to this level will bring those horses. This is what our stakes program is all about.”

The Hot Springs track will also add two new races to the schedule for 3-year-old sprinters, the six-furlong $150,000 Ozark S. and the $150,000 Mockingbird S. for 3-year-old fillies, bringing the total number of stakes races to 47, also a track record.

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Knuckley, Clary Keep Neatherlin Legacy Alive With Don’tcrossthedevil

You could be forgiven if the fifth race at Louisiana Downs Monday evening was well off your radar screen, but Don'tcrossthedevil (Cross Traffic)'s 4 1/4-length victory in the one mile and 70 yard allowance completed a long and winding road to redemption for co-owner Kevin Knuckley and trainer and breeder Jaylan Clary. Clary bred the 4-year-old gelding with her late father, trainer Michael Neatherlin, and the bay made his winning debut at Remington Park just weeks after Neatherlin died in the fall of 2021. A second open-lengths victory briefly had the bay on the Derby trail in early 2022, but after a failed stint in California, Don'tcrossthedevil is back in the Midwest with Clary and was back in the winner's circle for the first time since 2021.

“I pinhook mostly and I actually got started with that through Mike Neatherlin,” Knuckley recalled. “He called me in January of 2021 to buy in on three different horses and also asked if I wanted to buy into this 2-year-old that he and his daughter Jaylan bred. One of Mike's favorite expressions was, 'I'm telling you, Kevin. I'm telling you. You got to listen to me. This horse is special.' And I had to agree. We settled on an $80,000 market value and I bought a quarter of him for $20,000.”

It didn't hurt that Knuckley was already familiar with the family. He and his father had raced Don'tcrossthedevil's dam, the stakes-placed The Devil Is Mine (Devil His Due), in their Double Knuck Stables.

“She was a stone-cold runner herself, but she had some issues,” Knuckley said of the mare. “But she's produced some pretty nice babies and this is probably one of the better sires she's been bred to in Cross Traffic.”

The plan was to give Don'tcrossthedevil time to grow up before he made his first start, but the timing of that debut effort was pushed further back than expected.

“He was a big, lanky horse, so he needed to grow into himself a little bit,” Knuckley said. “We wanted to start him a little later in his 2-year-old year. We were angling for August or September and we took him to Remington. But Mike got COVID. He got it really bad and it killed him. He passed away in September. Don'tcrossthedevil was actually supposed to start the day after Mike died. We had to scratch him out of that race because of that.”

The loss hit Knuckley hard.

“He was a big brother, a mentor to me in this business,” Knuckley said. “He was the one who got me started pinhooking and we raced horses with Mike. Everything, foundationally, that I know about this business goes back to Mike. I watched his kids grow up, Jaylan and his stepson Lane Richardson. And now I am partners with Lane in pinhooking and I've got three runners in training with Jaylan.”

A few weeks after Neatherlin's passing, Don'tcrossthedevil fulfilled the Texas horseman's belief in him, breaking his maiden at Remington Park by 1 1/2 lengths. He added a six-length victory in an allowance race a month later.

“Both times I cried like a baby,” Knuckley said of those victories. “I mean, I just bawled. Because I missed Mike so much. And I know how proud he was of his daughter and me. And being able to team up like this–how special it was. All of these emotions just came up.”

The two impressive victories led to some inquiries to sell the promising young runner.

“The phone started ringing a couple of times [after his first win],” Knuckley said. “Jaylan priced him at $200,000 or $250,000, no one really bid at that point. His next race, he won again. And did it really impressively. The phone rang again. And finally we came to terms with Mark Martinez [of Agave Racing].”

Martinez purchased Don'tcrossthedevil for $225,000, with Knuckley staying in for 10%.

“He probably would have been the favorite for the Springboard Mile at Remington, but Mark didn't have any connections there and he raced with Phil D'Amato, who had an assistant at Oaklawn,” Knuckley recalled. “We shipped him to Oaklawn and on Jan. 1, we put him on the Derby trail in the Smarty Jones. That was a nightmare. It was rainy, terrible trip, everything, and he didn't do well there at all. We put him in the Southwest and that was a mess, too. We took him off the trail and shipped him out to California under Phil's direct training.”

Things didn't improve for the gelding out on the West Coast where he was well-beaten in three starts. Martinez was ready to call it quits, but Knuckley couldn't let go of his last connection to Neatherlin.

“We tried routing him, we tried him on the grass,” Knuckley said of Don'tcrossthedevil's time in California. “But we just couldn't put it together. Phil has probably 175 horses in his barn and I think this horse just got lost in the program and in the shuffle out there. Mark said he was ready to drop him for $16,000-$20,000 at Santa Anita. And I flat out told him, that's giving him away and they are going to take him. And he said, 'I am done.' This is a guy who payed $225,000 for this horse and he was ready to walk away from him.”

Martinez, who had by this point become a good friend, as well as a business partner to Knuckley, ultimately let him buy the horse back at a fraction of his estimated value and Don'tcrossthedevil returned home to Clary's barn. In his first start back for his breeder and original trainer, the gelding was a creditable second going 6 1/2 furlongs at Lone Star in May. He was third when stretched to a mile June 10 and made it all the way back to the winner's circle as a 25-1 longshot Monday evening.

“If you look at his running line, ever since Jaylan has had him, his Equibase numbers have gone up,” Knuckley said. “From 77, 81 and in the 90s yesterday. His best races have been with Jaylan. Yesterday, he finally did it. He found the winner's circle again and he found it with Jaylan. She bred him, she raised him and she brought this horse back. He was lost and she found him.”

Knuckley celebrated the victory a state away near his home in Texas.

“I went to Lone Star Bar and Book and I was there among a handful of strangers and they were all wondering what was going on,” Knuckley said. “I bought a round of drinks for the whole bar. It was a rush of emotions. I welled up. I thought of Mike and I was just so proud of Jaylan. And selfishly, I was happy for myself for bringing him back, for keeping the faith. We thought we had a big horse, we took our shot on the Derby trail and, as it does for most, it didn't end well. And sometimes you never see or hear from those horses again. And this horse has shown how resilient he is. I am proud of him for that.”

He continued, “As always there is that almost indescribable and unrivaled feeling of exhilaration of winning a horse race. And on top of the adrenaline and sentimental emotions that the victory carried with it, there was an unmistakable sensation of redemption. And when I spoke to Jaylan last night, we both agreed that Mike had that magnetic smile and look of pure joy on his face as he looked down upon us. We could feel how proud he is of us.”

As for what is next for Don'tcrossthedevil, Knuckley said, “I am not against trying a low-level listed stakes, maybe a $75,000 stakes or something and see what that looks like.”

5th-Louisiana Downs, $28,330, 7-17, (C), 3yo/up, 1m 70y (off turf), 1:43.45, ft, 4 1/4 lengths.

DON'TCROSSTHEDEVIL (g, 4, Cross Traffic–The Devil Is Mine {SP}, by Devil His Due) Lifetime Record: 11-3-1-1, $73,292. O-Kevin Knuckley & Pat Heinsen; B-Jaylan Renay Neatherlin (KY); T-Jaylan Renay Clary. *1/2 to Eurodevilwoman (Euroears), SP, $217,408.

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Diodoro Suspended, Fined For Oaklawn TCO2 Positive

Robertino Diodoro, currently fifth for wins in this year's North American trainer standings, has been suspended 30 days and fined $1,000 after a colt under his care, Aristocracy (Tapit), tested positive for elevated total carbon dioxide (TCO2) in the blood after finishing sixth in the Apr. 22 $200,000 Bath House Row S. at Oaklawn Park.

According to two rulings issued by the Arkansas Racing Commission on Monday, May 15, Aristocracy is disqualified from purse winnings, and Diodoro will have 15 days of his suspension stayed “on the condition that no Class A or Class B medication violations occur in any racing jurisdiction within 365 days from the date of this ruling.”

Aristocracy's sample revealed a TCO2 blood reading of 42.3 mmol/L, a penalty category B violation in Arkansas.

The suspension is to be served Dec. 8, 2023, through December 22, 2023, which coincides with the expected start of the next Oaklawn meet. The current season ended May 6, and Diodoro was the leading trainer in victories and third in earnings.

The rulings stated Diodoro waived his rights to both a stewards' hearing and the appeal of both rulings.

TCO2 testing is designed to deter the practice of “milkshaking,” which involves administering a liquid solution of baking soda via nasogastric tube in an effort to prevent lactic acid buildup and stave off muscular fatigue.

The Paulick Report first reported the penalties, quoting Diodoro as denying Aristocracy was milkshaked. The trainer also said he had no idea how the colt's TCO2 level registered beyond the permitted limit of 37 mmol/L.

Some amount of TCO2 occurs naturally in the blood of horses.

The Bath House Row S. was the 3-year-old's first start for Diodoro and owner Gordon Christoff.

Aristocracy had previously raced for his breeders, Gary and Mary West, under the care of trainer Brad Cox.

His previous race for those connections was a ninth-place try in the John Battaglia Memorial S. at Turfway Park Mar. 4.

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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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