Oaklawn | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Amazing’ 9-Year-Old Rated R Superstar Could Make Fifth Start In Upcoming Razorback

Danny Caldwell recorded his second career Oaklawn stakes victory Saturday and he used an old script to do it.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Oaklawn's four-time leading owner said. “That's probably not been done much.”

Caldwell struck again with millionaire Rated R Superstar ($53.80), who collared front-running Mucho on the outside near the wire to win the one-mile race for older horses by a neck under David Cabrera. Caldwell also won the 2017 Fifth Season with another 9-year-old gelding, Domain's Rap, who, like Rated R Superstar, was making his seasonal debut in the race.

On behalf of Caldwell, trainer Federico Villafranco claimed Domain's Rap and Rated R Superstar for $10,000 and $50,000, respectively, the latter coming last January at Oaklawn.

“I was actually thinking about an allowance race for him this time, bringing him back off a layoff,” Caldwell said. “But he was doing so good and Freddy told me: 'He's doing as good as he's ever been doing in our barn, coming off the layoff.' He was fresh and seemed like he was ready.”

Rated R Superstar hadn't started since finishing second in a Sept. 11 allowance race at Remington Park. Caldwell said the gelding came out of the race with a minor splint bone issue, necessitating a short break from training. Rated R Superstar had five published workouts since Dec. 2, the last two coming at Oaklawn, in advance of the Fifth Season.

Last entering the backstretch, Rated R Superstar zoomed past most of the field along the rail to reach contention at the half-mile pole. Rated R Superstar had to wait briefly on the second turn before Cabrera guided the gelding to the outside, three-wide, approaching the quarter-pole. Rated R Superstar wore down a stubborn Mucho in the short run to the wire (mile races at Oaklawn begin and end at the sixteenth pole).

Rated R Superstar's winning time of 1:37.16 was the fastest since the Fifth Season was shortened from 1 1/16 miles to a mile in 2020, when the race was split. Rated R Superstar ran sixth in the second division in 2020. The track was fast Saturday.

“The pace set up well for us and he's a late runner,” Caldwell said. “David made a good move on the backside here to get him up in there. We didn't want to get shuffled back and end up going 15-wide. So, he made that move up the rail and I'm thinking, 'I hope we didn't move too quick.' But I could tell he still had some horse. Luckily, they kept going and we had an opportunity down the stretch to run them down.”

The victory was the 10th in 57 lifetime starts for Rated R Superstar and raised his career earnings to $1,271,014. He is a five-time stakes winner.

Rated R Superstar has been an ATM throughout his lengthy career, bankrolling $518,367 and becoming a multiple Grade 3 winner in his first 30 starts for trainer Kenny McPeek. Rated R Superstar made 18 starts for trainer Cipriano Contreras after being claimed for $62,500 in November 2018 at Churchill Downs.

Highlighted by a victory in the $350,000 Essex Handicap for older horses in 2019 at Oaklawn, the gelding earned $363,656 before Contreras lost him to Caldwell almost a year ago. In nine starts for Caldwell and Villafranco, Rated R Superstar has made $388,991 and posted three victories, including the $175,000 Governor's Cup Stakes Aug. 20 at Remington Park.

“Amazing,” Caldwell said.

Oaklawn's two-turn stakes series for older horses continues with the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 12. Rated R Superstar has already started four times in the Razorback, finishing sixth for McPeek in 2018, third for Contreras in 2019, seventh for Contreras in 2020 and fifth for Villafranco last year.

“We'll see,” Caldwell said of another potential Razorback start. “He'll tell us.”

Rated R Superstar is a son of 2008 Oaklawn allowance winner and 2009 champion sprinter Kodiak Kowboy.

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Rosario, Asmussen Draw A Crowd With Chasing Time’s Victory At Oaklawn

After Chasing Time crossed the finish line first in the sixth race at Oaklawn on Jan. 14, a group of boisterous fans on the grandstand apron began chasing Steve Asmussen as he strolled toward the Larry Snyder Winner's Circle to have his picture taken.

Asmussen wouldn't be alone.

Those fans tracking the Hall of Fame trainer at the Hot Springs, Ark., track also were headed to the winner's circle. And, many more followed. When the photo was snapped, Abbey Huffman estimated 55 of Chasing Time's 3,220 owners, including some Arkansans, had crammed into the winner's circle to celebrate the victory. Huffman is a Midwest racing manager for MyRacehorse, which offers fractional ownership in horses to shareholders, including Chasing Time, a promising 3-year-old son of Not This Time who represented the first Oaklawn winner solely owned by the entity.

Chasing Time's entry-level victory was noteworthy for another reason, too. It marked the first for nationally prominent jockey Joel Rosario since he suffered a hairline fracture of a rib when he was unseated shortly after a Dec. 2 race at Aqueduct. Rosario resumed riding Friday, which also marked his first day as a regular at the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting that began Dec. 3.

“Me, I was excited after the race and then to see so many people in there cheering – it was very emotional for me and very good to see that,” Rosario said Saturday afternoon. “It was unbelievable, and that's what I do every day.”

Nobody did it better in 2021 than Rosario.

Rosario ($32,944,478) was eyeing a single-season North American record for purse earnings before the injury. In addition to leading the country in purse earnings, he topped all other riders in stakes victories (69), graded stakes victories (49) and tied for 10^th in victories (228), according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization.

Rosario, as expected, was announced Saturday as one of three finalists for an Eclipse Award as the country's outstanding jockey of 2021. Despite already compiling a Hall of Fame resume – more than 3,200 career victories, including 15 in Breeders' Cup races and three in Triple Crown events, and roughly $264 million in purse earnings – Rosario has never been honored with an Eclipse Award. The winner will be announced Feb. 10.

“We always hope,” said Rosario, who is represented by super agent Ron Anderson. “We're really grateful for everything we have and everything we've done. Appreciate everybody who has given me the opportunity. Yeah, we look forward for this one, this year again.”

Rosario, who turned 37 Friday, is scheduled to ride regularly at Oaklawn through at least early April, Anderson said. Chasing Time was Rosario's 29th career Oaklawn victory. He rode six horses Friday, all for Asmussen, and four Saturday, including Concert Tour in the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes for 2020 Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox. Lured by highest purse structure in the country this winter and the opportunity to ride A-list stock for Asmussen and Cox, Rosario is riding regularly at Oaklawn for the first time. Physically, Rosario said he's ready to go following the injury.

“I feel fine,” Rosario said. “It's always tough in the beginning, when you get started, but I've been working out. I feel fine.”

MyRacehorse, in partnership, won the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) for older fillies and mares last year at Oaklawn with two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl. MyRacehorse was founded in March 2019.

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Veteran Rated R Superstar Springs 25-1 Upset In Fifth Season

The 9-year-old gelding Rated R Superstar proved age is just a number in Saturday's $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park, springing a 25-1 upset with his neck triumph over pacesetting Mucho (7-1). The victory brought a bit of déjà vu for owner Danny Caldwell, who sent out Domain's Rap to win the 2017 edition of the Fifth Season when that gelding was nine years old. Both geldings are trained by Federico Villafranco.

“Just because they're eight or nine years old, doesn't mean they can't still run,” Caldwell said from the winner's circle.

Rated R Superstar was making his first start since September, and made a mid-race move from off-the-pace under jockey David Cabrera. Finding clear racing room in the center of the stretch, the son of Kodiak Kowboy ran down Mucho to complete a mile over the fast main track in 1:37.16. Thomas Shelby checked in third.

Sent to post as the 3-2 favorite, 2021 Rebel Stakes winner Concert Tour appeared to struggle around the far turn and was eased under the wire by jockey Joel Rosario. It was the colt's first start since the Preakness, as well as his first since being transferred to trainer Brad Cox.

Mucho, making his first start around two turns, went straight to the lead in the Fifth Season, pulling away to lead by as much as 1 1/2 lengths in the early going. Concert Tour was right there in second, tracking through fractions of 23.33 and 46.91 seconds, while Thomas Shelby came up the rail to join him down the backstretch.

Cabrera found a seam at the rail and sent Rated R Superstar through it midway down the backstretch, and brought the gelding into third on the inside. Thomas Shelby was challenging Mucho for the lead, while Concert Tour dropped back. Mucho repelled Thomas Shelby, but there was another challenger yet to come.

Swinging to the outside, Rated R Superstar saw the finish line and laid his ears back, eating up ground in the center of the track. Cabrera hit the wire a neck in front on Rated R Superstar, with Mucho and jockey Florent Geroux having to settle for second. Thomas Shelby was a close-up third, while it was several lengths back to Necker Island in fourth.

The remaining order of finish was: Silver Prospector, Snapper Sinclair, Atoka, Long Range Toddy, and Concert Tour.

Bred in Kentucky by Thorndale Stable L.L.C., Rated R Superstar was a $50,000 claim last January at Oaklawn. He's compiled a record of three wins, three seconds, and a third from nine starts for his new connections.

Rated R Superstar has significant back-class: he ran second in the G3 Iroquois and third in the G1 Breeders' Futurity in 2015, won the G3 Carry Back in 2016, the G3 Ben Ali in 2018, the $350,000 Essex in 2019, and the $175,000 Governor's Cup in 2021. Overall, the gelding has won 10 races from 57 starts and earned $1,271,014

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MGSW Lone Rock May Target Dubai World Cup

Flying P Stable and R. A. Hill Stable's Lone Rock (Majestic Warrior), winner of the 13-furlong GII Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance S. on the Breeders' Cup undercard at Del Mar Nov. 6, is a possible candidate for the G1 $12-million Dubai World Cup Mar. 26, according to trainer Robertino Diodoro. If all goes well in the 7-year-old gelding's next start, the GIII Razorback H. at Oaklawn Feb. 12, the Dubai World Cup will likely be next.

“I don't know if we have to win [the Razorback],” Diodoro said. “We are shortening up to a mile and a sixteenth in the Razorback. As long as he shows up again and runs like he's been running, then we're going to give it [Dubai World Cup] some serious consideration, for sure.”

Lone Rock closed out his 2021 campaign, which also included wins in Belmont's GII Brooklyn S. and Saratoga's Birdstone S., with a Dec. 18 score in Oaklawn's 1 1/8 mile Tinsel S. He won seven of nine last year after being claimed by Diodoro for $40,000 in his last 2020 start, a Churchill win at one mile. It was the second time in four months–and four starts–that Diodoro had claimed the bay. The conditioner began stretching Lone Rock out and the gelding responded with five wins at 1 1/2 miles or more.

The Razorback, held at 1 1/16 miles, would be Lone Rock's first start at less than 1 1/8 miles since an allowance victory at the Razorback distance in his 2021 debut last February at Oaklawn. The Dubai World Cup is contested at about 1 1/4 miles. Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) won the 2017 Razorback before finishing second in Dubai in what ultimately culminated with a Horse of the Year title. Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) won last year's Razorback prior to a Dubai World Cup win.

“After talking with the owner and stuff, I think [the Razorback] lines up good,” said Diodoro. “Got lots of space between the Tinsel and the Razorback… I keep saying as soon as this horse is telling us he needs a break, we're going to go give him a break. But right now, he keeps telling us he's ready to go and take one step at a time.”

Lone Rock worked Friday morning at Oaklawn, breezing a half-mile in :49.60 under regular rider Ramon Vazquez.

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