Tag: Racing

Tejano Twist is the 3-1 program favorite for the $200,000 Whitmore Stakes (G3) for older sprinters Saturday at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark.

Probable post time for the six-furlong Whitmore, the eighth of 10 races, is 4:22 p.m. (Central). Racing begins at 12:35 p.m. The card also features the $500,000 Essex Handicap (G3) for older horses at 1 1/16 miles.

The projected 10-horse Whitmore field from the rail out: Spankster, David Cabrera to ride, 124 pounds, 8-1 on the morning line; Tejano Twist, Francisco Arrieta, 124, 3-1; Miles Ahead, Martin Garcia, 117, 15-1; Edge to Edge, Nik Juarez, 124, 4-1; Empire of Gold, Lane Luzzi, 119, 15-1; Baytown Bear, Maclovio Enriquez Jr., 117, 20-1; Flash of Mischief, Cristian Torres, 124, 9-2; Pirate Rick, Rafael Bejarano, 119, 12-1; Cogburn, Ricardo Santana Jr., 124, 7-2; and Morello, Flavien Prat, 117, 15-1.

Tejano Twist and the speedy Edge to Edge are both trained by 2015 local champion Chris Hartman. Tejano Twist, a late-running son of Practical Joke, had won three consecutive starts before finishing second, beaten four lengths, by millionaire Grade 1 winner Gunite in the $150,000 King Cotton Stakes at six furlongs Jan. 28 at Oaklawn. Gunite's winning time over a sloppy track was a meet-best 1:08.89. With Gunite now based in the Middle East, Tejano Twist is favored to notch his third career stakes victory and second since Hartman claimed the gelding for $80,000 last June at Churchill Downs.

“No Gunite this time,” Hartman said. “That should be a little bit of help, for sure. He's a little hard to run down. We've got one horse on the front that's been doing really good and another one coming from the back. Hopefully, we can get a good result there. It looks like they're both coming into the race really live.”

Edge to Edge has recorded two sharp front-running allowance victories at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn. The six-furlong races went in 1:09.30 and 1:09.65.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who conditions Gunite, will send out Grade 3 winner Morello and Cogburn, who has been favored in all six lifetime starts.

Morello, in his Oaklawn debut, finished fourth, beaten 9 ¾ lengths by Edge to Edge, Feb. 17. Cogburn is poised to grab his first career stakes victory after narrow misses last spring in the $150,000 Bachelor at Oaklawn and the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico. Cogburn, in his 4-year-old debut and first start against older horses, was a Feb. 5 allowance winner at Oaklawn. Cogburn's winning time over a fast track was 1:09.67.

“He's always been fast,” Asmussen said. “He's run some very fast races and that's a good quality in a racehorse.”

Flash of Mischief looks to rebound from a fifth-place finish in the King Cotton for trainer Karl Broberg. Flash of Mischief won the $150,000 Ring the Bell Stakes at six furlongs Dec. 10 at Oaklawn.

The Whitmore is the final major local prep for the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) at 6 furlongs April 15. The Whitmore is named for seven-time Oaklawn stakes winner Whitmore, the country's champion male sprinter of 2020.

The post Tejano Twist Favored Over Nine Sprint Veterans In Oaklawn’s Whitmore appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Although Last Samurai is a millionaire multiple graded stakes winner, he's never won consecutive races. He gets another shot, this time as the 5-2 program favorite, in the $500,000 Essex Handicap (G3) for older horses at 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Oaklawn.

Probable post time for the Essex, the ninth of 10 races, is 4:54 p.m. (Central). Racing begins at 12:35 p.m. The card also features the $200,000 Whitmore Stakes (G3) for older horses at 6 furlongs.

The projected 10-horse Essex field from the rail out:

1. Silver Prospector, Ricardo Santana Jr. to ride, 118 pounds, 6-1 on the morning line;
2. Vittorio, Martin Garcia, 116, 3-1;
3. Rated R Superstar, David Cabrera, 118, 20-1;
4. Call Me Fast, Francisco Arrieta, 116, 15-1;
5. Classic Causeway, Flavien Prat, 119, 15-1;
6. Necker Island, Nik Juarez, 118, 8-1;
7. Forza Di Oro, Florent Geroux, 117, 7-2;
8. Tawny Port, Rafael Bejarano, 117, 15-1;
9. Keystone Field, Isaac Castillo, 116, 15-1; and
10. Last Samurai, Cristian Torres, 121, 5-2.

The Essex is a major local prep for the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) April 22, a 1 1/8-mile race Last Samurai won in 2022. Last Samurai wouldn't win again until his last start, a sparkling 1 ½-length score over West Will Power in the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 18 at Oaklawn. The victory, Last Samurai's fifth in 23 career starts, boosted his career earnings to $1,607,639. It also generated a 119 Equibase Speed rating, highest of the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting.

The obvious question: Can Last Samurai flash the same form Saturday?

“I'm getting paid to make them better,” Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, jokingly, said. “That's what they pay me for, to make them better. Not to keep them there, but to get them better.”

Lukas began training Last Samurai following the 2022 Oaklawn Handicap. A son of Malibu Moon, Last Samurai opened his 5-year-old campaign with a fourth-place finish in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at 1 1/8 miles Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park. Last Samurai shined three weeks later in the Razorback for owner Kevin Horton of Marshall, Ark. (Willis Horton Racing).

“I hope I get some consistency out of him,” Lukas said.

In addition to the Last Samurai, the Essex features Grade 1 winner Classic Causeway for trainer Kenny McPeek, Grade 2 winner Silver Prospector (Steve Asmussen) and Grade 3 winners Rated R Superstar (Martin Villafranco) and Tawny Port and Forza Di Oro (Brad Cox).

Classic Causeway returns to dirt after making his final five starts last year on turf, highlighted by a front-running victory in the $1 million Belmont Derby (G1) at 1 ¼ miles July 9 at Belmont Park. In the runup to last year's Kentucky Derby, Classic Causeway was a front-running winner of the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) and $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G2). Both 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Derby dirt preps were at Tampa Bay Downs.

“We're proud of what he did on the grass, but we don't want to pigeonhole him as strictly a turf horse,” McPeek said. “We want to give him several races on the dirt again to try and see how he competes against the older dirt crop. He still needs to learn to rate himself and be more tactical, as opposed to pretty well being one-dimensional. When he leaves the gate, he wants to be in front. I would like to think that Flavien can get him to relax a little bit. We've been trying to practice this a bit with him, to get him to lay off horses and just wait, wait and finish and use that natural speed later in the race.”

Defending champion Rated R Superstar, 10, is trying to become the oldest horse to win a two-turn stakes race at Oaklawn. Vittorio will be making his stakes debut for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Necker Island, approaching $1 million in career earnings, returns to a route for the first time since May for 2015 Oaklawn training champion Chris Hartman.

“The idea was the Oaklawn Mile,” Hartman said, referring to the $400,000 Grade 3 race April 1. “But the horse is doing so good, we didn't want to wait around for the Oaklawn Mile. The idea was to get him back around two turns, so what's an extra sixteenth. The horse is doing really good, so we thought we could see what he can do there.”

Silver Prospector exits a sharp Feb. 11 allowance victory at Oaklawn.

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Grade 2 winner Smile Happy is headed back to stakes company after his successful comeback Thursday at Oaklawn, trainer Kenny McPeek said Friday morning.

Making his first start since finishing eighth in last May's Kentucky Derby, Smile Happy recorded a 1 ¼-length allowance victory in the $106,000 eighth race under Francisco Arrieta. The odds-on favorite, Smile Happy ($3.80) covered 1 1/8 miles over a sloppy track in a meet-best 1:48.95.

“Thrilled,” McPeek said. “Tricky horse to train sometimes. Very independent. Sometimes he has good days and sometimes he has bad days. Just thrilled. He's such a good horse.”

McPeek said Smile Happy “likely” will make his next start in the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles April 22 at Oaklawn. His comeback produced a preliminary Equibase speed rating of 104, a career high.

“It was such an impressive race and a really good time, too,” McPeek said.

Smile Happy was among the country's leading Kentucky Derby prospects last year after winning both starts 2, including the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles, by a combined 8 ¾ lengths.

After finishing second in two major Kentucky Derby preps to open his 3-year-old campaign, Smile Happy didn't run again in 2022 after being beaten 10 lengths by Rich Strike in the Kentucky Derby. McPeek said he decided to stop on Smile Happy because of bone bruising and point the son of champion Runhappy to a 4-year-old campaign.

Owned by Lucky Seven Stable (Mike Mackin), Smile Happy raised his career earnings to $613,410 after winning for the third time in six starts.

McPeek also had another 2022 Triple Crown starter in Thursday's eighth race in Creative Minister, who finished third in the Preakness and fifth in the Belmont Stakes. Creative Minister finished fourth, beaten 8 ¼ lengths by Smile Happy, in his 4-year-old debut.

“Came back fine,” McPeek said. “Didn't seem to handle the mud quite as well. He struggled through it a little bit, but he'll improve off that. I think he wants a dry track.”

McPeek said Creative Minister could run in another allowance race before the Oaklawn meeting ends May 6 or resurface at Keeneland.

Smile Happy represented the third consecutive victory on the card for Arrieta.

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Darryl Abramowitz's graded stakes-winner Greeley and Ben, who has not raced since capturing the Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap on November 26 at the Big A, has been training forwardly at Belmont Park towards a potential start in the Grade 3, $175,000 Runhappy on May 13 at the Elmont oval.

Greeley and Ben has worked over the dirt training track three times since mid-February, covering a half-mile in 50.67 seconds on Thursday.

“We're targeting either the Runhappy or something in Keeneland,” said trainer Jeffrey Englehart. “He's about four weeks away from being race ready and we're on the right trajectory.”

The son of Greeley's Conquest earned the first graded win of his career in the six-furlong Fall Highweight when under the care of Englehart's assistant Faith Wilson. Ridden by Manny Franco, Greeley and Ben rated in fifth through the first quarter-mile and improved position at every point of call to come away with a neck victory in a dramatic four-way photo finish over Runninsonofagun, Factor It In, and Jaxon Traveler.

Following the Fall Highweight, Greeley and Ben was entered in the Gravesend on December 30 at the Big A, but was scratched due to illness. Englehart said he opted to give Greeley and Ben ample time to recover and ease back into training.

“He's been doing good. He was quiet for a couple weeks after we scratched him and he lost about 40 pounds,” said Englehart. “His bloodwork was a little finicky. Now, he's got his energy back and we're happy with his bloodwork. I just did right by him and gave him the time when he got sick. They're animals and they're like we are – when they get sick, we just want to get them back to 100 percent. He's been training excellent.”

The 9-year-old Greeley and Ben would be making his first start at Belmont should he start in the Runhappy, marking the 16th racetrack he will have visited in his 39-start career. Englehart claimed the veteran gelding for $40,000 out of a determined neck victory in a six-furlong claiming tilt in September at Saratoga Race Course.

Greeley and Ben has turned out to be an astute claim for Englehart, finishing second first off the claim to graded stakes-winner Morello in an optional claimer in October at Laurel Park before a game fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler where he was bested three-quarters of a length by Runninsonofagun. He followed with a starter allowance score here on November 10 and his Fall Highweight triumph just 16 days later.

“When we claimed him, he ran good that day,” said Englehart. “He's really taken to our lighter training regimen and has put on some good weight. We had been really happy with how he was training and that's why we thought to bump him up to the stakes company and he did well. We had the Fall Highweight in mind even with the starter race, so everything panned out well.”

Englehart said Greeley and Ben, who boasts an impressive 39-23-7-2 record for total career earnings of $882,698, shows no signs of slowing down as he gears up for his 9-year-old campaign.

“You would never know his age,” Englehart said, with a laugh. “He's a very high-energy animal and he loves his job.”

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