Oaklawn | Horse Racing Free Tips

Baffert Giving Spielberg ‘Another Chance’ On Derby Trail In Southwest

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has captured one of Oaklawn's four Kentucky Derby points races with a horse named after an Olympic gold medalist, another with a horse named after a professional tennis icon and a third with a horse named after a celebrated soccer manager.

Now, it's that fourth race receiving the “star” treatment. The Southern California-based Baffert, who has dominated Oaklawn's Kentucky Derby prep series the last decade, will send out Spielberg in Saturday's $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3), a 1 1/16-mile event the trainer's already won four times.

Spielberg is named for Steven Spielberg, a two-time Academy Award winner for best director. Purchased for $1 million at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Spielberg – the horse – will be making his first start since a disappointing fourth-place finish in his 3-year-old debut, the $100,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 30 at Santa Anita.

Spielberg was not originally nominated to the Southwest, which was scheduled to be run Feb. 15 before severe winter weather postponed the race twice. After losing eight live racing dates, Oaklawn announced Feb. 17 that nominations to all postponed stakes would be reopened and close Feb. 19. Spielberg, a son of Union Rags, was among a handful of horses nominated during the two-day window and one of seven entered Tuesday morning. He was to be flown Wednesday to Arkansas.

“I really don't plan too far out,” Baffert said Tuesday afternoon. “His last race, he just never really got into it. Struggled all the way around there. But he came back and worked well and so I thought, 'You know what? I know it's going to be a short field and the races are sort of on top of each other.' I thought I would give him another chance. It's an easy ship, so we're just going to send him up there and see if he fits with those.”

Spielberg had a productive 2-year-old campaign, finishing second and third, as a maiden, in the $250,000 Del Mar Futurity (G1) at Del Mar and $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita, respectively, and winning the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 19 at Los Alamitos.

Spielberg was beaten 11 ¼ lengths in the two-turn Robert B. Lewis. In his only other poor performance, Spielberg finished fourth, beaten 9 ½ lengths, in the $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes (G3) Nov. 15 at Del Mar. The colt was coming off a Nov. 1 maiden victory at Del Mar.

“He just never got engaged in the race,” Baffert said of the Robert B. Lewis. “One of those races where he just didn't show up. He came out of it fine. We thought he was doing well going in. He's done that before. He did that at Del Mar. He ran in a stake and just didn't show up.”

Baffert won the Southwest in 2010 with Conveyance – the trainer's first Oaklawn starter in roughly nine years – in 2012 with Castaway and Secret Circle (split race) and in 2013 with Super Ninety Nine. The late Bob Holthus, Oaklawn's all-time winningest trainer, captured the Southwest a record five times.

Baffert also won the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) in 2012 with Bodemeister, who was named after Olympic gold medal winning skier Bode Miller. Baffert won Oaklawn's first Kentucky Derby points race, the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, in 2018 with Mourinho, who was named after three-time Premier League champion soccer coach Jose Mourinho.

Baffert won the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) last year with Nadal, named after Rafael Nadal, who has a record-equaling 20 career Grand Slam men's singles tennis titles. Nadal returned to win the second division of the Arkansas Derby last May.

The Southwest will offer 17 points to the top four finishers (10-4-2-1, respectively) toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby. Oaklawn's Kentucky Derby points series continues with the $1 million Rebel (G2) March 13 and the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 10.

The Southwest anchors Saturday's 11-race program that begins at 12:15 p.m. (Central). Probable post time for the Southwest, which goes as race 10, is 4:58 p.m. The projected field from the rail out: Essential Quality, Luis Saez to ride, 119 pounds; Saffa's Day, Ricardo Santana Jr., 117; Last Samurai, Jon Court, 117; Jackie's Warrior, Joel Rosario, 119; Santa Cruiser, Richard Eramia, 117; Woodhouse, David Cabrera, 117; and Spielberg, Martin Garcia, 119.

Unbeaten Essential Quality was the country's champion 2-year-old male for trainer Brad Cox, while Jackie's Warrior was a multiple Grade 1 winner last year for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Both horses have been based this winter at Fair Grounds and will be making their 2021 debuts in the Southwest.

Baffert said unbeaten Concert Tour (2 for 2) is already “penciled in” for the 1 1/16-mile Rebel, a race the trainer has won a record seven times. Also pointing for the Rebel is runaway Smarty Jones winner Caddo River, another Cox trainee, and locally based Grade 2 winner Keepmeinmind for trainer Robertino Diodoro.

The post Baffert Giving Spielberg ‘Another Chance’ On Derby Trail In Southwest appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Hoping For An Even Better 4-Year-Old Year’: G2 Winner Mystic Guide Returns In Razorback

Post positions for the rescheduled $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses Saturday at Oaklawn were drawn Tuesday.

The Razorback is one of three stakes races on Saturday's card, along with the $750,000 Southwest (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles and the $200,000 Spring Fever for older female sprinters. The Southwest will mark the 2021 debut of unbeaten Essential Quality, the country's champion 2-year-old male. Racing begins at 12:15 p.m. (Central), with probable post time for the Razorback, which goes as the seventh of 11 races, 3:20 p.m.

The Razorback was originally scheduled to be run Feb. 13 before fierce winter weather shuttered racing at Oaklawn for two weeks. It will still mark the 4-year-old debut of Godolphin's Mystic Guide, by 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper out of millionaire multiple Grade 1 winner Music Note. Mystic Guide has already built a solid resume in six career starts, winning the $150,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) Sept. 5 at Saratoga before concluding his 2020 campaign with a second-place finish, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the $250,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) Oct. 10 at Belmont Park.

“We were delighted with the way his 3-year-old year turned out,” trainer Mike Stidham said. “There were a lot of temptations to run in the Derby and different spots and the timing just wasn't right. It just seemed like he needed a little bit more time, so we kept being real patient with him and let him develop. As he developed and those other races showed up, we always felt like a mile and an eighth and farther was going to be helpful to him. Turned out great. He won a Grade 2 and placed in a Grade 1 as a 3-year-old, so now we're hoping for an even better 4-year-old year.”

Mystic Guide has recorded a series of sharp workouts at Fair Grounds leading up to his 2021 debut. Stidham said he chose to start Mystic Guide's 2021 campaign in the Razorback because unbeaten Maxfield, another Godolphin homebred, was being pointed to the $200,000 Mineshaft Stakes (G3) Feb. 13 at Fair Grounds.

“With Maxfield also being at being at the Fair Grounds, they didn't want to run them against each other,” Stidham said of Godolphin. “It was decided that Maxfield was going to stay here and we would go to Oaklawn. That was how it all worked out.”

Maxfield moved to 5 for 5 with a 3 ¼-length victory in the Mineshaft, which marked his 4-year-old debut. Mystic Guide will have a chance to complete the Godolphin older horse stakes double in the Razorback, a major local prep for the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) April 17.

Mystic Guide was the 3-1 second choice in the program after the race was originally drawn. Mystic Guide was among seven horses entered Tuesday, the others being Silver Prospector, Hunka Burning Love, Mailman Money, Owendale, Rated R Superstar and Long Range Toddy.

Stidham has 19 career victories at Oaklawn, with almost one-third (six) coming in stakes events. Stidham won the $250,000 Fantasy (G2) for 3-year-old fillies in 1994 with Two Altazano, 1999 Razorback with Desert Air and four more stakes with crack Arkansas-bred sprinter Comedero, including the $60,000 Mountain Valley in open company in 2010.

“Most of the time when we make the ship, it's usually for a stakes, so we probably have run in more stakes than anything there,” Stidham said. “We hope our success continues.”

The Southwest, Oaklawn's second of four Kentucky Derby points races, drew a field of seven. In addition to Essential Quality and multiple Grade 1 winner Jackie's Warrior, Saffa's Day, Last Samurai, Santa Cruiser, Woodhouse and Spielberg are also entered.

Oaklawn stakes winners Amy's Challenge and Kimari are among nine horses entered in the 5 1/2-furlong Spring Fever. Also entered are Cashcheckorcharge, Sunny Dale, Casual, Headland, Ain't No Elmers, Shesomajestic and Best Kept Secret.

Probable post time for the Spring Fever, race 8, is 3:52 p.m. Probable post time for the Southwest, race 10, is 4:58 p.m.

The post ‘Hoping For An Even Better 4-Year-Old Year’: G2 Winner Mystic Guide Returns In Razorback appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Southwest Stakes: Spielberg In, Keepmeinmind To Wait For Rebel

Southern California-based Spielberg will join the lineup for this Saturday's delayed edition of the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, reports the Daily Racing Form, while locally-based Keepmeinmind will wait two weeks for the G2 Rebel Stakes.

The Southwest, originally scheduled for Feb. 15, was delayed two weeks by a series of winter storms that hit that Hot Springs, Ark. track, but will still offer the winner 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Spielberg, a 3-year-old son of Union Rags trained by Bob Baffert, won the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity in 2020, but failed to fire when fourth last out in the G3 Bob Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.

The colt worked six furlongs in 1:13.00 at Santa Anita on Sunday. He'll be piloted in the Southwest by Martin Garcia

“We're going,” Baffert told drf.com. “We'll see what he does over there. He's been training well.”

The Southwest is also expected to draw champion Essential Quality and Grade 1 winner Jackie's Warrior. Entries will be taken Tuesday afternoon.

Keepmeinmind, the Grade 2-winning son of Laoban trained by Robertino Diodoro, missed 11 days of training due to the condition in Arkansas, hence the decision to delay his 2021 debut until the Rebel Stakes on March 13.

Oaklawn Adds Races and Days

After losing eight days of racing due to record-breaking winter weather, Oaklawn has added both races and extra race days to make up for canceled days last week and this coming weekend. In addition, the Hot Springs oval previously announced the further postponement of their President's Day weekend stakes to the weekend of Feb. 27-28.

A total of 27 races have been added to the schedule as well as two additional race days Wednesday, Mar. 31 and Wednesday, Apr. 28. The track is also increasing purses for all overnight races by as much as $4,000 per race. These increases will go into effect when racing resumes Thursday, Feb. 25.

The purse increases will average 5% per overnight race, meaning maiden special weights will be increased from $82,000 to $86,000 and top allowance races will increase from $88,000 to as much as $92,000.

The GIII Southwest S., GIII Razorback H. and the Spring Fever S. will now take place Saturday, Feb. 27. The GIII Bayakoa S., Dixie Belle S. and Downthedustyroad S. will be held Sunday, Feb. 28. Nominations for all stakes were reopened and will close Friday, Feb. 19.

“There's no fighting Mother Nature, especially when our priority is safety,” Oaklawn President Louis Cella said. “However, we feel these changes will greatly benefit our horsemen and our fans by creating a huge weekend of racing to kick off the rest of the season.”

Due to Arkansas restrictions on crowd size, attendance at Oaklawn for live racing is limited to box holders, Oaklawn Jockey Club members, and patrons with dining/simulcast reservations. However, Oaklawn General Manager Wayne Smith anticipates being able to open the Oaklawn infield and other outdoor areas to fans in the coming weeks. Reservations can be made by calling 501-363-4660, Mon-Sat, for that week's races only.

The post Oaklawn Adds Races and Days appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post