PREVIEWS OF

today’s Fifth Season, Pippin stakes.

HOT SPRINGS — A field of 11 is entered to race in today’s $100,000, 1-mile Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn for fillies and mares 4 years old and up.

Gold Standard — owned by Stonestreet Stables and Foxwoods — is the morning-line favorite at 7-2. Brad Cox trains Gold Standard, with jockey Florent Geroux set to ride.

Post time for the Pippin is scheduled for 4:09 p.m.

Michael Pietrangelo’s Irish Mischief — also trained by Cox, with Joe Talamo set to ride — is picked second on the morning line at 4-1.

John Ortiz trains Cairenn, owned by WSS Racing. He said he was encouraged by her recent class-packed performances. Cairenn — a 6-year-old Florida bred by First Dude with a lifetime record of 5-6-7 in 22 starts — finished third in the Grade III Rampart Stakes at Gulfstream Park near Miami on Dec. 14. It was her first start under Ortiz’s guidance.

“She really ran well in her last start,” Ortiz said. “We really feel good about her going into this race.”

Ortiz stood next to Cairenn’s

stall in the Nodouble barn Friday and watched as she dipped her head to bite the stall’s door latch.

“You can tell she’s ready to go,” he said. “She’s trying to let herself out.”

Ortiz said he is as excited about another season at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort as he suspects fans across Arkansas are about live racing. He first came to Oaklawn as an assistant for trainer Kellen Gorder in 2013.

“You can feel the excitement, not only on the back side but in the town,” he said. “That’s what I love about it here. It’s almost like a festival about to start. The community here is just unbelievable.”

Gold Standard, a 4-yearold filly by Medaglia d’Oro, will race after consecutive third-place finishes in Grade III stakes, the 11/8mile Comely at Aqueduct in New York on Nov. 29, and the Remington Park Oaks in Oklahoma City on Sept. 29.

Irish Mischief finished fourth in the 7-furlong, Grade II Raven Run Stakes on Oct. 19 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., and was second in the 7-furlong, Grade III Charles Town Oaks at Charles Town Race Course in West Virginia on Sept. 21.

M and M Racing’s Special Relativity finished third in the 7-furlong, Grade II Bessarabian Stakes at Woodbine in Toronto on Nov. 24.

Special Relativity is trained by Robertino Diodoro.

“The horse is really doing well,” Diodoro said. “All the races here are tough, but we feel good going into this one.”