AT THE POST
DAY 26 of 57
SUNDAY’S ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 22,000
SUNDAY’S TOTAL HANDLE $5,486,100
SUNDAY’S ON-TRACK HANDLE $1,080,489
SUNDAY’S OFF-TRACK HANDLE $4,4405,611
TODAY’S POST TIME 1:30 p.m. (Gates open 11 a.m.)
ADMISSION General admission, free; Reserved seats, $4.50
PARKING $2 until 4 p.m.
TODAY’S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Laurel Park, 11:25 a.m.; Gulfstream Park, 11:35 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Aqueduct, 12:30 p.m.; Fair Grounds, 12:30 p.m.; Santa Anita, 2:30 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:45 p.m.
SATURDAY’S STARS
Three jockeys and one trainer won three races on Saturday. David Cohen won three races to improve to 26 victories in 147 stars. Joseph Talamo won three to improve to 21 victories in 115 starts. Martin Garcia won three to improve to 20 victories in 117 starts.
Trainer Robertino Diodoro won three races to improve his season leading totals to 31 victories in 101 starts.
Cohen won the second race with Ghostly Who ($9.60, $4.80, $3.20)), covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.84. He won the third with Aqwaam ($14.40, $6.40, $5.20), covering 1 and 1/16 miles in 1:43.63. He also won the fifth race with One for Richie ($5.00, $3.40, $2.60), covering 6 furlongs in 1:09.64
Talamo won the sixth race with My Golden Diablo ($5.60, $3.60, $2.60), covering 6 furlongs in 1:11.51. He won the Hot Springs Stakes with Whitmore ($3.60, $2.60, $2.10), covering 6 furlongs in 1:08.54 and the Honeybee with Shedaresthedevil ($7.80, $3.80, $2.60), covering 1 and 1/16 miles in 1:44.38.
Diodoro won the second race with Ghostly Who, the third race with Aqwaam, and the fifth with One for Richie.
REBEL WORKS
Two leading candidates for the $1 million Rebel Stakes for 3-year-olds March 14 completed major preparations for the 1 1/16-mile race on Saturday morning at Oaklawn.
Three Technique worked a half-mile in :48.80 for trainer Jeremiah Englehart, while Wells Bayou went the same distance in :48.40 for trainer Brad Cox. Both horses breezed over a fast track.
Clockers caught Three Technique, along the rail, galloping out 5 furlongs in 1:01 and 6 furlongs in 1:14.80 after the renovation break.
Three Technique had recorded a swift half-mile bullet workout a week earlier, so Englehart said he was looking for something much less taxing Saturday.
“We wanted to do an easier work this time and then let him kind of continue on the gallop out to just get some air in him,” said Englehart, who trains Three Technique for Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Bill Parcells. “Seemed like it went pretty well.”
Three Technique hasn’t started since a runner-up finish in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 24, Oaklawn’s first of four Kentucky Derby points races. The 1-mile Smarty Jones marked the stakes and two-turn debut for Three Technique, who has been favored in all five career starts. Englehart said Luis Saez will ride the son of Three Technique for the first time in the Rebel, the final major local prep for the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 11.
“Luis is one of the best,” Englehart said.
“You don’t mind putting your cleats on with him. He’s a guy you want to have on your team.”
Wells Bayou, the runner-up in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes, worked with stablemate Something Natural just after the track opened under Fernando De La Cruz. Clockers had Wells Bayou galloping out 5 furlongs in 1:00.60 and 6 furlongs in 1:13.60. Wells Bayou opened his 3-yearold campaign with a four-length allowance victory over Something Natural Jan. 26.
The Oaklawn racing department listed eight probables for the Rebel late Saturday morning – American Theorem for trainer George Papaprodromou, Basin (Steve Asmussen), Nadal (Bob Baffert), No Parole (Tom Amoss), Silver Prospector (Asmussen), Three Technique, Wells Bayou and Winning Impression (Dallas Stewart). Two or three other horses are under consideration.
American Theorem hasn’t started since finishing second in the $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes Sept. 27 at Santa Anita. Basin will be making his first start since winning the $350,000 Hopeful Stakes Sept. 2 at Saratoga. Unbeaten Nadal (2 for 2) won the $200,000 San Vincent Stakes Feb. 9 at Santa Anita and will try to extend Baffert’s record for Rebel victories to seven. No Parole is unbeaten and untested in three career starts against Louisiana-bred competition. Silver Prospector exits a onelength victory in the Southwest.
The Rebel will offer 85 points to the top four finishers (50-20-10-5) toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby. Post positions will be drawn Wednesday, the same day a plane carrying expected Southern California-based runners is scheduled to arrive.