Oaklawn | Horse Racing Free Tips

Arkansas: Baffert’s Lidocaine Hearings Scheduled For April 19, 20

According to the Daily Racing Form, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has been scheduled for hearings on April 19 and 20 with the Arkansas Racing Commission over a pair of lidocaine positives at Oaklawn Park in 2020.

The two horses testing positive for the Class B substance were Charlatan, winner of the G1 Arkansas Derby on May 2, and Gamine, winner of an allowance race on the same card.

After news of the positives was leaked last year, Baffert's attorney Craig Robertson said both Gamine and Charlatan were exposed to the lidocaine from a patch worn by a member of the trainer's staff suffering back pain while tending to the horses at Oaklawn.

Jimmy Barnes, assistant trainer for Baffert, saddled the horses at Oaklawn in the trainer's absence. He suffered a fractured pelvis in September 2017.

Both Gamine and Charlatan were disqualified from their victories, and Baffert was suspended for 15 days.

Shades Of ‘Ali-Frazier’: Whitmore, C Z Rocket Up For Rematch In Count Fleet

So far, Whitmore and C Z Rocket have fought to a split decision. Round 3 is Saturday at Oaklawn when they tangle again in the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older sprinters at 6 furlongs.

“They're two warriors,” said Peter Miller, trainer of C Z Rocket. “It's Ali-Frazier. It's going to be a battle. I think it will probably come down to who gets the trip.”

Round 1 went to Whitmore, who beat C Z Rocket by 3 ¼ lengths in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland for co-owner/trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs. That outcome secured Whitmore an Eclipse Award as the country's champion male sprinter of 2020 and snapped C Z Rocket's five-race winning streak (all the victories, including two Grade 2 stakes, came after being claimed for $40,000 last April at Oaklawn).

Round 2 went to C Z Rocket, who beat Whitmore by a neck in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes March 13 at Oaklawn. That outcome made C Z Rocket, a 7-year-old gelding, a millionaire, denied Whitmore his record-extending fifth consecutive Hot Springs victory and from becoming the outright leader in career Oaklawn stakes victories with eight (the 8-year-old gelding shares the record with Swift Ruler). Whitmore has won the Count Fleet a record three times (2017, 2018 and 2020).

“They're very comparable horses,” Miller said. “Really super-good horses.”

Whitmore and C Z Rocket headline the Count Fleet, which has drawn a field of seven. Probable post time for the Count Fleet, which goes as the 11th of 13 races, is 6:05 p.m. (Central). First post Saturday is 12:02 p.m.

The projected lineup from the rail out: No Parole, Ramon Vazquez to ride, 118 pounds, 9-2 on the morning line; Whitmore, Ricardo Santana Jr., 123, 9-5; Mojo Man, Francisco Arrieta, 116, 8-1; Strike Power, Joel Rosario, 117, 5-1; Empire of Gold, David Cabrera, 117, 8-1; C Z Rocket, Florent Geroux, 122, 2-1; and Mr. Jagermeister, Rocco Bowen, 116, 12-1.

Whitmore and C Z Rocket were making their first starts since the Breeders' Cup Sprint in the Hot Springs. Both races were 6 furlongs. Tipping the scales, so slightly, in C Z Rocket's favor last month may have been geography. He was training in Southern California, while Whitmore's routine in Arkansas was interrupted for roughly two weeks by severe winter weather. Oaklawn lost 11 days of training (Feb. 12-22) to snow and arctic temperatures.

“We missed two works,” said Laura Moquett, who assists her husband and regularly gallops Whitmore, a career winner of almost $4.3 million. “That stunk. And he went five-wide. Had he gone on the rail and missed two works, maybe it would have been even. Had he had the two works and gone five-wide, maybe it would have been even. But doing both – missing two works and going five-wide – it's not possible.”

Whitmore has had two half-mile works since the Hot Springs. Miller has kept a small string of horses at Oaklawn, but he opted to send C Z Rocket back to Southern California following the Hot Springs. The gelding has posted two works at his home base, San Luis Rey Downs.

“We were torn,” Miller said. “Leave him there or bring him home? Just with the weather there and everything like that, we thought it was prudent to bring him back.”

C Z Rocket was flown back to Arkansas Wednesday. He and Whitmore figure to again have plenty of pace to chase Saturday with the presence of Grade 1 winner No Parole, 2020 Breeders' Cup fourth Empire of Gold, multiple stakes winner Mr. Jagermeister and Grade 3 winner Strike Power, who has the fastest 6-furlong time of the 2021 Oaklawn meet (1:08.91).

“Lots of pace,” Miller said. “There's definitely lots of pace. We're just going to leave it up to Flo.”

Let Round 3 begin.

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Baffert Looking for ‘Concert’ Encore in Arkansas Derby

After losing presumptive GI Kentucky Derby favorite Life Is Good (Into Mischief) to injury for several months, Bob Baffert may still have the Derby chalk in his barn if his undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Concert Tour (Street Sense) can follow up his dominant GII Rebel S. score with a similar performance against just five rivals in Saturday's $1-million GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn.

Unveiled as an even-money favorite going six furlongs Jan. 15 at Santa Anita, the Gary and Mary West homebred scored a good-looking wire-to-wire victory and repeated with a half-length triumph in the GII San Vicente S. there Feb. 6. Stretched out to two turns for the first time in the Rebel here Mar. 13, the bay set a sharp pace and drew clear strongly in the lane for a convincing 4 1/4-length success. Pegged as the even-money favorite on the morning line with regular rider Joel Rosario, he drilled six furlongs in 1:12 4/5 (1/5) at his Arcadia home base Apr. 3.

The Rebel was billed as a clash between Concert Tour and fellow promising 'Rising Star' Caddo River (Hard Spun), but that battle never materialized, as frontrunning Caddo River was taken off the lead and got rank before finishing a distant fifth. Trainer Brad Cox has promised more aggressive tactics in the Arkansas Derby for the Shortleaf Stable homebred, who previously crushed his Smarty Jones S. rivals by 10 1/4 lengths to follow up a 9 1/2-length third-out graduation. With just 10 Derby qualifying points, he needs a top two finish to punch his ticket to Louisville.

“We're going to try and be a little bit more involved early if we can,” he told the Oaklawn notes team. “That's really the tactics we're going to take into the race. We'll see if that works any different. He's probably more of a free-running horse. I think we found that out last time. Florent took a hold of him up the backside and that didn't really seem what he wanted to do.”

The second, fourth and seventh finishers from the Rebel also re-oppose. Hozier (Pioneerof the Nile) completed a Baffert exacta that day at 18-1 and another move forward is possible in just his fourth career start.

“I just feel fortunate that I have these two after losing Life Is Good,” Baffert said. “It's pretty tough, you know, but that's why everything works itself out for the Derby. The horse will get you there.”

Late-running Super Stock (Dialed In) rallied to be fourth in the Rebel and was third to champion Essential Quality (Tapit) three back in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity. Get Her Number (Dialed In) was seventh with a troubled trip making his sophomore debut in the Rebel after winning the GI American Pharoah S. to close out his 2-year-old season.

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By My Standards Returns From Layoff In Saturday’s Oaklawn Mile

The 2021 goal for By My Standards is straightforward, trainer Bret Calhoun said Tuesday afternoon. It's a Grade 1 victory.

The first step comes in the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile for older horses Saturday at Oaklawn. A four-time Grade 2 winner and millionaire, By My Standards will be making his first start since finishing seventh in the $500,000 Clark Stakes (G1) Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs. He is the 5-2 program favorite for the Oaklawn Mile, which has drawn a field of nine.

“It's kind of a starting point,” Calhoun said. “Obviously, our main objective this year is to win a Grade 1. A lot of Grade 1s aren't until a little later in the year, so we've got to find us a roadmap, the best possible way to win a Grade 1. We just wanted to get a race under his belt, get him started and then see where our options are from there.”

A 5-year-old son of Goldencents, By My Standards won the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) in 2019 at Fair Grounds. Sandwiched around a victory in the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses last May at Oaklawn were scores in the $400,000 New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds and the $400,000 Alysheba Stakes (G2) Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs. Prior to the Clark, By My Standards ran eighth in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

“Not really sure why he didn't perform up to our expectations the last couple of races,” Calhoun said. “The Breeders' Cup, you can kind of throw that out a little bit. The track was a little strange, extremely biased, speed-biased, so I don't know what to make of that. The last race he didn't fire, either. Honestly, he couldn't have been training better. I would have never pointed toward those spots if he wasn't just training fantastic, which he was. We were a little puzzled by it.”

Calhoun said By My Standards underwent a “complete physical” and checked out fine.

“We decided to give him a little break and that brought us to this point,” Calhoun said.

That would be a return trip to Hot Springs. Calhoun said he'd been shopping some time for a comeback spot and the Oaklawn Mile was “about the first race we could make it to.” Most of By My Standards' races have come at 1 1/16 miles or farther.

“You've got to play it week-by-week,” Calhoun said. “The weather plays a part in it. Obviously, we all got hit hard with some weather this winter and we lost a little bit here and there. But, actually, at the end of the day, everything fell into place to make this race. I know a flat mile is probably less than ideal for him, but it's actually ideal for his comeback race, I believe, so we're really looking forward to that. Flat mile, good purse and the fact that we're able to run on Lasix. We think that's important for an old horse coming off a long layoff.”

By My Standards was based this winter at Fair Grounds before joining Calhoun's Oaklawn division March 29. By My Standards had an easy half-mile breeze (:51.60) last Sunday. A winner of 6 of 14 starts and $1,829,430, By My Standards races for Allied Racing Stable LLC (Kentuckian Chester Thomas) and Spendthrift Farm, which stands Goldencents.

The projected Oaklawn Mile field from the rail out: Long Range Toddy, Jon Court to ride, 117 pounds, 20-1 on the morning line; Gun It, Ricardo Santana Jr., 117, 8-1; Wells Bayou, Florent Geroux, 124, 4-1; Rushie, Joel Rosario, 124, 3-1; Blackberry Wine, David Cabrera, 121, 5-1; By My Standards, Gabriel Saez, 124, 5-2; Pioneer Spirit, Ramon Vazquez, 124, 6-1; Home Base, Francisco Arrieta, 117, 15-1; and The Sound, Martin Garcia, 121, 12-1.

Long Range Toddy (first division of the 2019 Rebel at Oaklawn), Wells Bayou (2020 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds) and Rushie (2020 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs) are also Grade 2 winners.

Probable post time for the Oaklawn Mile, which goes as the ninth of 13 races, is 4:49 p.m. (Central). Last year's Oaklawn Mile runner-up, Improbable, went on to capture three Grade 1 events and was named the country's champion older dirt male.

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