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GISW Maracuja Arrives at Oaklawn, Targets Apple Blossom

GI CCA Oaks winner Maracuja (Honor Code), who arrived at Oaklawn Park New Year's Day, is expected to target the Apr. 23 GI Apple Blossom S., according to trainer Rob Atras. Based primarily in New York, Atras will be represented by a small string of runners at Oaklawn for the first time this winter.

“It's kind of the first time I've kind of really, officially, opened up a second string,” Atras said. “Obviously, in the summer we have to split our string up in Saratoga and Belmont, but this is the first time I've had a string out of state.”

Maracuja made seven starts in 2021, including a second in the GIII Gazelle S. in April at Aqueduct before besting Eclipse favorite Malathaat (Curlin) in the CCA Oaks. She also ran seventh in the GI Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs and later concluded her sophomore campaign with a fourth-place finish in the Sept. 25 GI Cotillion S. at Parx.

“It could be the [GII] Azeri [S. Mar. 12] or it could be something else,” said Atras of the 4-year-old's next start. “I'm not exactly sure yet. We're just going to kind of see how things go. She got a real light breeze before she left, so we're kind of just starting up with her. She had a few months off at the farm in Kentucky. She had been galloping here in New York for a month, with a light breeze, and so we're just kind of starting to get her back going again. So, we don't have an exact time frame with her yet.”

Atras, who currently has 45 horses training in New York with an additional five at Oaklawn, indicated he may send a couple of more to the Hot Springs oval and could be “a little bit active” at the claim box. Jesse Sauder, an exercise rider who recently received his assistant trainer's license, will oversee Atras's Arkansas division.

“Last year, I got a few horses out of Arkansas that came up here and we did well with them,” Atras said. “I had a few ideas. One was to, potentially, claim some horses to bring back to New York and another idea was to send a filly that won the Oaks, CCA Oaks, Maracuja, down and have her train down there and then, hopefully, run a couple of times. As things came together, I had a couple of horses that I didn't really have spots for up here, or I had trouble getting them in the right spot, so it kind of worked out well to send them down there.”

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Friday’s Racing Insights: Bevy of Pricey, Well-Bred Runners Squeeze in ’21 Starts

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

2nd-TAM, $26.5K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1m40yds, 1:08 p.m. ET
While their other four competitors are a combined 0-for-37, late-debuting newcomers Aussie Pride (Curlin) and Mint (Bodemeister) sport huge pedigrees and in one case, a massive price tag. The former, who carries the Godolphin blue for trainer Bill Mott, was the second topper at the 2019 Keeneland September sale at a gaudy $4.1 million. He's out of New Zealand champion sprinter Bounding (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}), who is a half to G1 Investec Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Mint's dam Flawless (Mr. Greeley), meanwhile, was a $4.1-million FTKNOV buyback last year one day after her son Authentic (Into Mischief) completed his Horse of the Year campaign with a GI Breeders' Cup Classic score. Arnaud Delacour trains Mint for breeder Peter Blum. TJCIS PPs

7th-GP, $54K, Alw, (S), 2yo, 7f, 3:29 p.m. ET
Repole Stable and St Elias Stable's So Determined (Into Mischief) takes on a couple of stakes-placed runners in his first try against winners. The $875,000 Keeneland September yearling is out of a full-sister to SW Summer House (Tiznow) from the family of MGSW and successful Louisiana-based sire Custom for Carlos (More Than Ready). Second in his local unveiling Oct. 2, he broke through by 4 1/2 lengths going 5 1/2 panels Nov. 14. TJCIS PPs

4th-SA, $67K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 5:00 p.m. ET
This first of two divisions of well-bred sprinting maidens features The Avengers' $625,000 Keeneland September buy McLaren Vale (Gun Runner). A $200,000 KEEJAN in utero seller and $325,000 Keeneland November weanling, the Bob Baffert trainee is out of a half-sister to the dam of Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Justify. Richard Baltas pupil Balladeer (Distorted Humor), who cost $355,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Showcase, is out of a Galileo (Ire) half-sister to GI Belmont S. and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer (Distorted Humor). Several in here show solid running lines, including Doug O'Neill-trained last-out Del Mar third-place finishers Godsend (Midshipman, $80,000 OBSAPR {:20 4/5}); and B Dawk (Gormley, $425,000 FTMMAY {:10 1/5}). TJCIS PPs

6th-SA, $67K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 6:00 p.m. ET
West Point Thoroughbreds and Talla Racing LLC's Got Thunder (Arrogate) will look to go one better here after finishing second at 19-10 to Newgrange (Violence), whose high-profile connections, nicknamed The Avengers, will be represented this time around by Wharton (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Armagnac (Quality Road). Got Thunder was a $155,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $750,000 OBSAPR grad off a :10 flat bullet breeze. He's half to MGISW turfer Heart to Heart (English Channel) and MGSP Lady Traveler (Quality Road). Click for Steve Sherack's 'Second Chances' feature on Got Thunder after his Nov. 28 unveiling at Del Mar.

Wharton was a $475,000 September buy and is out of GISW sprinter Her Smile (Include), making him half to MGSW Pink Sands (Tapit). Armagnac, who cost $210,000 at the same auction, is out of turf stakes winner Kitty Wine (Lemon Drop Kid), who also set a track record on the Keeneland Polytrack over the Beard Course. TJCIS PPs

8th-OP, $120K, Alw, 2yo, f, 1m, 6:00 p.m. ET
Muddy Waters Stables LLC's Hypersport (Blame) stretches out off a super-sharp and head-turning second-out score here Dec. 3 that earned an 87 Beyer Speed Figure and surely some phone calls to her connections. The $100,000 September yearling was previously runner-up at Keeneland Oct . 21. Three other fillies already own black-type: Brad Cox-trained Goldolphin homebred Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) was second in Churchill's Fern Creek S. last time Nov. 27; Benedict Canyon (Midnight Lute) was third in Santa Anita's Anoakia S. Oct. 24 and makes the move from Bob Baffert to Steve Asmussen off a fifth-place run in the GI Starlet S.; and value buy Red Hot Mess (Shackleford), upset winner of the White Clay Creek S. at Delaware Oct. 13, comes in off a far-back finish in Belmont's Tempted S. TJCIS PPs

The post Friday’s Racing Insights: Bevy of Pricey, Well-Bred Runners Squeeze in ’21 Starts appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Trainer Chelsey Moysey Off To Fast Start At Oaklawn Park

Chelsey Moysey has won 3 of 7 starts at the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting that began Dec. 3 and the fast break from the gate coincides with a change of scenery.

She saddled her first career winner in 2019 at Belterra Park in Cincinnati and her second came later that year at nearby Turfway Park in Kentucky. Moysey spent much of 2020 in Kentucky before shifting her summer/fall base to the mid-Atlantic for the first time, specifically Delaware Park, after the 2021 Oaklawn meeting ended in May. Spurred by her success at Delaware Park, Moysey already has a career-high 19 victories overall this year after winning 11 races in 2020 and two in 2019.

“I feel like it was definitely a great career move for me,” said Moysey, 28, a former assistant to the now-retired Buff Bradley. “It makes it a little easier. It's where you can expand and still keep your numbers without having everything claimed from you in two weeks. It's exhausting.”

All three of Moysey's Oaklawn winners, Substantial ($19.60), favored Little Burrito ($4.60) and Izzybella ($24.40), raced in 2021 at Delaware Park. Its meet ran May 26-Oct. 30. Substantial and Little Burrito are owned by the trainer's major client, Lewis Mathews of Bismarck, Ark. Izzybella is owned by a new client, Al Klerlein, who operates a structural steel fabrication and erection company in Delaware.

Moysey said among Delaware Park's biggest perks is location. Although stabled there, she also ran horses at Parx, Monmouth Park, Charles Town, Laurel, Penn National and Belmont Park.

“Everything's under three hours,” Moysey said. “You have all the options. If you can't find a race in one spot, you can find it in another. It was neat. I shipped all over the place.”

Moysey finished the Delaware meeting with 10 victories, including her first career stakes score in the $50,000 White Clay Creek. Through nine days of Oaklawn's scheduled 66-day meeting, Moysey is already poised to surpass her victory total from the 2021 meeting. She was 4 for 42.

“You always hope for a good start, but I didn't expect it to be this good,” Moysey said. “Last year, I think I went 0 for 23 before I even won.”

Red Hot Mess is among 15 horses Moysey has at Oaklawn. Purchased for only $20,000 in May at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic 2-year-old in training sale, Red Hot Mess is entered in a 1-mile allowance race Friday. Moysey said it could be an audition for the $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes Jan. 29, which is Oaklawn's first of three Kentucky Oaks points races. Red Hot Mess is a daughter of 2011 Preakness winner Shackleford.

Another 2-year-old Moysey has for Mathews is recent addition Vodka N Water, a Fed Biz colt who, despite being a maiden, earned $100,710 in seven starts this year and was twice stakes placed, including the $150,000 Bashford Manor (G3) June 26 at Churchill Downs.

Mathews purchased Vodka N Water, previously with Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, for $45,000 at Keeneland's November Breeding Stock Sale. Vodka N Water is being pointed toward an entry-level allowance race next month, Moysey said.

“We're going to stretch him out two turns and see what happens,” Moysey said.

Moysey has eight career Oaklawn victories.

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Saturday’s Smarty Jones Stakes Draws 14 Triple Crown Hopefuls

Record purse, record number of nominees and possibly a record crowd in the starting gate.

Oaklawn's Road to the Kentucky Derby begins Saturday with the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, a one-mile race that has drawn a full field of 14. Probable post time for the Smarty Jones, which goes as the ninth of 10 races, is 4:13 p.m. (Central). First post is 12:30 p.m.

The Smarty Jones is Oaklawn's first of four Kentucky Derby points races, with 17 up for grabs to the top four finishers (10-4-2-1, respectively). What's different in 2022 is the timing of those races. Coinciding with an expanded 2021-2022 schedule – the Dec. 3 opening was the earliest in Oaklawn history and more than a month before traditional dates – the Smarty Jones, Southwest Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 29, Rebel (G2) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 26 and Arkansas Derby (G1) at 1 1/8 miles April 2 were all moved up on the calendar.

The Smarty Jones previously had been run in mid to late January, Southwest in mid to late February and the Rebel in mid to late March. The Arkansas Derby is still in April, but it is now five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, instead of falling three weeks away as it has since 1996.

In addition to the revamped schedule, Oaklawn President Louis Cella boosted the purse of the Smarty Jones from $150,000 to $250,000 and the Arkansas Derby from $1 million to a record $1.25 million, keeping it the country's richest Kentucky Derby prep race.

The moves are already paying dividends.

The Smarty Jones, inaugurated in 2008, drew a record 98 nominees. If the field remains intact, it will be the largest in race history, eclipsing 12 starters in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

“Not that the Smarty Jones is new, the placement of the Smarty Jones is new,” Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope said moments after Tuesday's post position draw for the race. “The fact that Louis wanted to put more money in, all those things tremendously helped the race.”

The projected 14-horse Smarty Jones field from the rail out:

Dash Attack, David Cohen to ride, 117 pounds, 12-1 on the morning line
All in Sync, Ricardo Santana Jr., 117, 8-1
Home Brew, Florent Geroux, 119, 3-1
Kavod, Francisco Arrieta, 119, 5-1
Ignitis, Luis Contreras, 117, 15-1
Bureau, David Cabrera, 117, 12-1
Ruggs, Julien Leparoux, 117, 10-1
Vivar, Martin Garcia, 119, 8-1
Don'tcrossthedevil, Lane Luzzi, 117, 10-1
Barber Road, Reylu Gutierrez, 117, 4-1
Cairama, Geovanni Franco, 117, 8-1
Cool Papa G, Ramon Vazquez, 117, 6-1
Immoral, Tiago Pereira, 117, 20-1
Ben Diesel, Jon Court, 117, 5-1

Oaklawn's totalisator system can accommodate 14 wagering interests after an upgrade for the 2017 meeting.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen nominated 21 horses to the Smarty Jones and entered three – All in Sync, Cairama and Cool Papa G. Trainer Brad Cox nominated 14 and entered program favorite Home Brew and Vivar. Trainer Kenny McPeek nominated five and entered Dash Attack. Fair Grounds-based trainer Dallas Stewart, who has a small string at Oaklawn, is scheduled to be represented by Ben Diesel.

Strong interest in the Smarty Jones comes on the heels of two other recent 17-point Kentucky Derby preps – $400,000 Springboard Mile Stakes Dec. 17 at Remington Park and the inaugural $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes last Sunday at Fair Grounds.

“I think now, it's boom, boom, boom,” Pope said. “What I'm seeing, trainers do this even for Breeders' Cup, they work backwards. The don't work forwards. So, they sit there and work backwards. How many races do I need to get to the Kentucky Derby? How many races do I need to get to the Arkansas Derby? And what's the best scenario to do it?”

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Ben Diesel exits a fourth-place finish in the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs. The son of champion and 2013 Smarty Jones winner Will Take Charge is a homebred for Willis Horton of Marshall, Ark. Ben Diesel is full brother to Will's Secret, who won Oaklawn's $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes and $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at the 2021 Oaklawn meeting for Stewart and Horton.

Barber Road, Cool Papa G and Ignitis finished 2-3-6, respectively, in the $200,000 Lively Shively Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs. Lively Shively winner Tejano Twist returned to run second in the Gun Runner at 1 1/16 miles.

Vivar finished sixth in the Kentucky Jockey Club for Cox and breeder/owner John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs, who teamed to win the 2021 Smarty Jones with Caddo River. Home Brew, in his two-turn debut, was a Dec. 4 entry-level allowance winner at Oaklawn. Dash Attack was a career debut winner at 1 mile Dec. 5 at Oaklawn.

Kavod, Cairama and Ruggs were 1-3-4, respectively, in the $150,000 Advent Stakes Dec. 3.

Kavod won the 6-furlong Advent – Oaklawn's first stakes race for 2-year-olds since 1973 – in his first start after being claimed out of a Nov. 20 sprint victory at Churchill Downs for $50,000 by trainer Chris Hartman. The Smarty Jones would mark Kavod's two-turn debut on the main track.

“We're just looking at it,” Hartman, Oaklawn's 2015 training champion, said Tuesday afternoon. “We'll see how he looks in the race.”

Like the Smarty Jones, the Southwest is a 17-point race. The stakes become bigger in the Rebel (85 points to the top four finishers, including 50 to the winner) and Arkansas Derby (170, including 100 to the winner).

Starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby, which is limited to 20 horses, is determined by points earned in designated races like the Smarty Jones, Southwest, Rebel and Arkansas Derby.

The date of the Arkansas Derby is now more in line with other final major Kentucky Derby preps across the country. The 170-point Louisiana Derby, for example, is only a week before the Arkansas Derby in 2022.

“It's the trend,” Asmussen said. “You know, more time between races for big horses.”

Qualifying points are only awarded to horses who don't use race-day Lasix in Road to the Kentucky Derby races. None of the 14 Smarty Jones entrants will be racing on the anti-bleeder medication Saturday.

Oaklawn's scheduled 66-day meeting ends May 8, the day after the Kentucky Derby.

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