AT THE POST

DAY 48 of 55

THURSDAY’S ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 3,500 THURSDAY’S TOTAL HANDLE $3,195,865 THURSDAY’S ON-TRACK HANDLE $363,743 THURSDAY’S OFF-TRACK HANDLE $2,832,122 TODAY’S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Gulfstream Park, 11:35 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Keeneland, 12:05 p.m.; Laurel Park, 12:10 p.m.; Aqueduct, 12:20 p.m.; Santa Anita, 2 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:15 p.m.; Hawthorne, 3:10 p.m.; Penn National, 5 p.m.; Evangeline, 5:50 p.m.; Charles Town, 6 p.m.; Daytona Beach (greyhounds), 6:25 p.m.; Derby Lane (greyhounds), 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY’S STARS

Two of Oaklawn Park’s top jockeys gained ground on leader Ricardo Santana Jr. on Thursday. David Cabrera had two victories, riding J P of Galilee ($14.80) to victory in the fifth race and Cash Bonus ($6.40) in the seventh. Cabrera now has 36 victories in 251 starts and is in second place in the jockey standings, one victory ahead of David Cohen. Ramon Vazquez is solidly in fourth place in the jockey standings after getting two more victories Thursday. They came aboard Strawn’s Cash ($19.00) in the second race and Archie’s Girl ($11.00) in the sixth race. Vazquez now has 29 victories in 208 starts during the meet. Santana did not add to his total Thursday, nor did leading trainer Steve Asmussen.

ROBERTSON GEARING UP

Only 2 lengths separated Mac Robertson from a sweep of the March 10 stakes races at Oaklawn.

The trainer will have a second chance at a similar sweep when he sends out Amy’s Challenge in the Grade III $400,000 Fantasy Stakes for 3-year-old fillies April 13 and Wynn Time in the Grade III $400,000 Fleet Sprint Handicap for older horses April 14.

Amy’s Challenge suffered her first career loss in the Grade III $200,000 Honeybee Stakes on March 10, when she was runner-up to Cosmic Burst. About an hour earlier, Wynn Time was beaten by a neck by Whitmore in the $125,000 Hot Springs Stakes.

“Any time the horses run good in good races, I’m happy,” Robertson said Thursday. “The owners always want to win, win, win. But, any time you run in a good race and your horses run good, I’m pretty happy with the effort. I thought the horses ran as hard as they could for me.”

Robertson said “it looks like” Hall of Famer Mike Smith will ride Amy’s Challenge in the Fantasy, while Martin Pedroza will be reunited with Wynn Time in the Count Fleet. Robertson also said Tahoe Dream, a two-time winner at the meet, is pointing toward the Fantasy.

A NEW HOME

Alex Canchari, Oaklawn’s eighth-leading jockey this year, said he will be based at Indiana Grand when the Oaklawn meet ends April 14.

After last year’s Oaklawn meet, Canchari rode regularly at his home track, Canterbury Park in suburban Minneapolis, where he won 50 races to rank third in the jockey standings.

Canchari said Indiana Grand’s lengthy meet — scheduled to run from April 17 to Nov. 7 — was appealing and said its location will allow him to ride at Churchill Downs, Keeneland and Ellis Park during dark days.

“It’s a longer meet over there and it is more opportunity to get exposure with the Kentucky circuit, too, since I’m going to ride both circuits,” he said.

Canchari has 19 victories and $1.1 million in purse earnings at this year’s Oaklawn meeting. Information for this report was provided by the Oaklawn media department