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Caddo River Demolishes Smarty Jones Rivals As Oaklawn Meet Begins

Breaking from the outside post in a field of seven, Shortleaf Stable's homebred Caddo River went straight to the front under Florent Geroux, set all the fractions and pulled away to a 10 1/4-length victory in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on opening day of the 2021 Oaklawn meet in Hot Springs, Ark.

Caddo River, trained by Brad Cox, paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favorite after traveling one-mile around two turns in 1:38.19. Cowan finished second at 2-1 odds for Steve Asmussen, with stablemate Big Thorn 7 1/4 lengths back in third and Moonlite Strike fourth.

The Smarty Jones is an official qualifying points race for the Kentucky Derby offering 10-4-2-1 points to the top four finishers. In accordance to new rules put in place for 2021, starters cannot earn qualifying points if they are administered race-day Lasix to treat exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. All seven starters in the Smarty Jones raced Lasix-free.

Updated Kentucky Derby points leaderboard

By Hard Spun out of the Congrats mare Pangburn, Caddo River came into the Smarty Jones off a 9 1/2-length maiden victory at Churchill Downs Nov. 15 going a one-turn mile. He finished second in two previous races, a seven-furlong maiden test at Saratoga Sept. 5 and a Belmont test at the same distance on Oct. 11.

Caddo River outhustled Hardly Swayed for the early lead, going the opening quarter mile in :23.12 and the half in :47.16. Going into the far turn, Caddo River began to open up and he was well in control after six furlongs in 1:12.42 and seven panels in 1:25.26. He cruised to the sixteenth pole short-stretch finish line while widening his advantage with every stride.

“He broke very alertly,” said Geroux. “Very nice and relaxed. You want to see these type horses doing it the right way. It's easy to go to the lead and keep on going. You want them to relax and do everything right. He did everything perfect. The distance doesn't look like it's going to be a problem. Very excited about what's coming up ahead of us with him. Looks like he can run all day, which is a good problem. Hopefully, we can go on, go up the stepping stones and have a nice horse for the first Saturday in May.”

John Ed Anthony, a Hot Springs resident who races in the name of Shortleaf Stable, has won the G1 Arkansas Derby on three occasions, with Temperence Hill in 1980, Demons Begone in 1987 and Pine Bluff in 1992. With Caddo River likely headed down the path to the April 10 renewal of the meet's biggest race, he could be in line for a fourth.

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Juvenile Runner-Up Hot Rod Charlie Revved Up For Lewis Stakes

Hot Rod Charlie may not win Santa Anita's Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Jan. 30, but one thing's for sure: he won't be 94-1.

He was dismissed at those boxcar odds in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 6 at Keeneland but outran them big time when beaten just three-quarters of a length by undefeated Essential Quality, who is expected to be crowned Eclipse Award king as outstanding two-year-old male on Jan. 28.

The Lewis is an early West Coast steppingstone to the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby April 3, and beyond that the Kentucky Derby. Decided at a mile and one-sixteenth, it offers 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner, four to the second-place finisher, two to the third horse and one to the fourth.

Doug O'Neill trains Hot Rod Charlie and another Lewis contender, Wipe the Slate, for principal client J. Paul Reddam who capitalized on the Lewis in 2012 as a successful conduit to victory in the Run for the Roses with I'll Have Another.

Wipe the Slate was an impressive maiden winner by 3 ¼ lengths under Team O'Neill mainstay Mario Gutierrez going seven furlongs in 1:23.42 on Dec. 26. O'Neill also has well-regarded maiden The Great One entered in Saturday's second race for non-winners at one mile.

A bay son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, The Great One was second by a nose at 33-1 to Spielberg in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity last Dec. 19 and gets Lasix for the first time Saturday. He is Jon White's 7-5 morning line favorite in a field of five.

Joel Rosario rides Hot Rod Charlie in the Lewis, while Gutierrez, who won the Kentucky Derby for Reddam and O'Neill with I'll Have Another and Nyquist, returns on Wipe the Slate.

Hot Rod Charlie and Wipe the Slate each worked six furlongs Friday, the former going in 1:16.60 and the latter in a bullet 1:12.60, fastest of 13 drills at the distance.

“Both worked fantastic,” O'Neill said. Amir Cedeno was aboard Hot Rod Charlie while Gutierrez rode Wipe the Slate.

Hot Rod Charlie is listed at 30-1 in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wagering, while Wipe the Slate is last at 50-1 among individual horses. Unbeaten Bob Baffert trainee Life Is Good is the individual favorite at 6-1, while the category of “All Other 3-Year-Olds” is favored at 9-5.

“You can't win if you're not in, so we're hoping to win with at least one of our horses, and in a dream world, all three,” O'Neill said.

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Trio Of Graded Stakes Winners Top Nominees For Jan. 30 Holy Bull Stakes

Grade 2 winner Mutasaabeq, who captured the Mucho Macho Man Jan. 2 in his season debut, and Grade 3 winners Pickin' Time and Sittin On Go are among 22 sophomores nominated to the $200,000 Holy Bull (G3) Saturday, Jan. 30 at Gulfstream Park.

The 30th running of the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull is the next step for 3-year-olds on Gulfstream's road to the March 28 Florida Derby (G1), and headlines a program featuring five graded-stakes worth $600,000 in purses.

Shadwell Stable's Mutasaabeq was a popular 1 ½-length winner of the one-mile Mucho Macho Man, his return to the main track after winning the 1 1/16-mile Bourbon (G2) on grass and finishing 10th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1). The next four horses that finished behind him – Papetu, Awesome Gerry, Pickin' Time and Ultimate Badger – are also nominated to the Holy Bull.

John Bowers Jr.'s New Jersey homebred Pickin' Time won the Smoke Glacken at Monmouth Park and Nashua (G3) at Aqueduct in back-to-back starts last fall before a pair of fourth-place finishes in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen (G2) Dec. 5 and the Mucho Macho Man, where he wound up beaten 11 ¼ lengths after a troubled start.

Albaugh Family Stables' Sittin On Go has been training forwardly at Gulfstream for trainer Dale Romans ahead of his 3-year-old debut. Winner of his first two career stats in Kentucky, including the Iroquois (G3), before finishing ninth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and sixth in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), a race where Romans-trained stablemate Smiley Sobotka and fellow Holy Bull nominee ran second by less than a length.

Slam Dunk Racing's Drain the Clock, Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained stablemate of Awesome Gerry, exits a 7 ½-length romp as the favorite in the six-furlong Limehouse Jan. 2 at Gulfstream. The Maclean's Music colt has won all three races he has finished, losing his rider when the irons broke in the Jean Laffite Nov. 30 at Delta Downs.

Championship Meet-leading trainer Todd Pletcher nominated five horses including Remsen (G2) runner-up Known Agenda and recent Gulfstream maiden winners Amount, Donegal Bay and Prime Factor. Also among nominees are Capo Kane, winner of the Jan. 1 Jerome at Aqueduct; and Gulfstream maiden winners Greatest Honour, Jiraifales, Lucky Law, Simovitch and Willy Boi, the latter improving to 2-0 with a Florida-bred allowance victory Jan. 7.

Amount, Awesome Gerry, Drain the Clock, Papetu, Sittin On Go, Smiley Sobotka, Ultimate Badger and Willy Boi are also among 22 nominees to the $100,000 Claiborne Farm Swale for 3-year-olds sprinting seven furlongs, along with Competitive Speed, winner of the 6 ½-furlong Glitter Woman Jan. 2 at Gulfstream; Hot Blooded, winner of the one-mile Proud Man on the Gulfstream turf last summer; and Poppy's Pride, a winner of three consecutive stakes and four races overall.

Along with being nominated to the Swale, John Minchello's Competitive Speed is among 16 3-year-old filly nominees to the $100,000 Forward Gal, also contested at seven furlongs. She is joined by Gulf Coast, half-length winner of the one-mile Cash Run Jan. 1 at Gulfstream; Shea D Summer, fourth in the Cash Run after winning the Juvenile Fillies Sprint Nov. 14 at Gulfstream Park West; Gasparilla winner Adios Trippi; and Gone to Cabo and Dial to Win, respectively third and fifth in the Glitter Woman.

Rounding out the stakes are a pair of $100,000 turf events for 3-year-olds – the Kitten's Joy (G3) led by stakes winners Kentucky Pharoah, Hot Blooded, Never Surprised and Omaha City, and the Sweetest Chant (G3) for fillies featuring stakes winners Con Lima, Dirty Dangle and Gulf Coast.

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$50,000 Claim Rightandjust On Target For Risen Star After Sharp Fair Grounds Score

The sight of a 3-year-old in January going two turns and drawing off in deep stretch will get any trainer thinking big. Shane Wilson is no different, and while Rightandjust might not be taking the most conventional path to the February 13 Risen Star (G2), he put everyone on notice after his dominant win in a strong January 16 optional-claimer at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans.

Rightandjust isn't your typical blueblooded Fair Grounds 3-year-old. He wasn't a precocious 2-year-old who came to the backstretch this winter with stakes plans already penciled in at 3. Though he may still well get there, the route to any potential glory is more the road less traveled.

Wilson and owner Wayne T. Davis claimed Rightandjust from trainer Louie Roussel III for $50,000 out of his gate-to-wire 5 ½-length maiden claiming win at Fair Grounds December 18. The son of Awesome Again had run a better-than-it-looked fourth sprinting in a local MSW on debut in November, but looked like a new horse stretching out. Wilson, who teamed with Davis to win a pair of graded stakes with Mocito Rojo—a horse they claimed for $10,000—had a game plan in mind when the meet opened and Rightandjust, a son of Awesome Again, fit the bill.

“We thought coming to Fair Grounds there would be some young, good quality horses that we could get to stretch out,” Wilson said. “Obviously the owner claimed Mocito Rojo awhile back for 10k to win a couple of graded races so we wanted to try and do that again with a couple of young horses. With Rightandjust being an Awesome Again and the mare by Tiznow, we thought he was a young horse with a good race and he finished up strong and should get better going two turns so we took a shot.”

Based on pedigree and what he's displayed in his races so far, Wilson might be right. Rightandjust's dam Pussyfoot was winless from just one start, but her half sibling Morning Line earned $1.2 million in his career and was a productive stallion in his second career until his death in 2019. He is also a half-brother to the promising 4-year-old Tapit colt Guided Missile.

Rightandjust broke through in a big way in his MCL win but showed no ill effects from such a strong race. It was readily apparent that Wilson had a rapidly improving soon-to-be 3-year-old on his hands, who still had plenty of untapped potential.

“We got him back the night I claimed him and he cleaned up everything I fed him and he licked the bowl,” Wilson said. “He was on his hind legs when we hand-walked him down the shedrow the next morning. It seemed like he did what he did easily and we came back and worked him and he worked great and then he had a bullet best-of-100 work. (Jockey) Jack Gilligan was the one breezing him and he said 'Shane, this horse can really run and he has a bunch of gears he doesn't even know he's got yet.'”

Rightandjust entered the optional-claimer as a bit of a rank outsider, at least judging by the 22-1 price on the toteboard. In a race that saw entries from trainers named Asmussen, Cox, Stidham, and Walsh, and owners like Godolphin, Brereton C. Jones, and Three Chimneys Farm, it was no real surprise that Wilson, Davis, and Rightandjust were overlooked. Facing much tougher competition, he went to the front again, set a measured pace, and streaked home an easy three-length winner. An unknown outsider before the race, Rightandjust had clearly arrived, which wasn't a complete shock to his trainer.

“We were pretty confident but it came up tough,” Wilson said. “A few were stretching out for the first time but we knew he could run 1 1/16 miles over the Fair Grounds. I was really surprised he was such a big price even though the other horses were coming from Churchill Downs and Keeneland and had great connections.”

Rightandjust looks like a vintage 3-year-old that is getting better by the day and his blend of speed and stamina can take a horse a long way during the first half of their sophomore year. Wilson is taking the 'If it's not broke don't fix it' route to the 1 1/8-mile Risen Star, which could prove problematic to some of his more precocious rivals.

“He looks like when he gets up there (on the lead) he goes to flicking his ears around and he's comfortable with that pace,” Wilson said. “It looks like he had plenty in the tank (in his win) and he'll go another sixteenth of a mile. As long as everything is good—and he came back great and he's galloping strong—we're going to breeze him 14 days out and then 7 days out and if everything is like it is now that (the Risen Star) is where we're going to go.”

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