Nodouble goes to Gar Hole again

HOT SPRINGS — With his first step out of the gate Saturday, Gar Hole went to the lead and, as they say on the backstretch, improved his position.

In a race named for the late Arkansas-bred winner of the 1968 Arkansas Derby, Gar Hole led every step in defending his title in the $150,000 Nodouble Breeders’ for older state-bred male sprinters. Overpowering five opponents under Ricardo Santana Jr., the 5-yearold revived a sluggish meet for owner-breeder John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs and trainer John Alexander Ortiz.

Odds plunging to 2-5 after two scratches, Gar Hole went 6 furlongs in 1:10.00, slightly slower than in last year’s Nodouble but in a race that a speed record wasn’t needed. A length and a half back was Unbridled Twister with Bandit Point third in a group that Mrs. Beans applied the most pressure to Gar Hole before tiring. It was the fifth Nodouble board finish for 8-yearold Bandit Point, trained by Robert Cline and ridden by Kelsi Harr.

Named for the bar in the former Marion Hotel, when the Little Rock riverfront facility served as a nerve center for Arkansas politics, Gar Hole is the son of Tekton and Dovecot, the latter sired by 2015 champion, Arkansas Derby and dual-classic winner Afleet Alex. In the month of his foaling, the homebred gelding is six for 10, a third-place finish included, for $451,124.

The 2022 Nodouble triumph marked his fourth victory of Oaklawn’s longest season, his only defeat coming in an April allowance-claimer against open rivals. Both horses who beat him at Oaklawn, where he has won twice this season, are trained by Steve Asmussen, most recently to Grade I winner Gunite when fourth in the $150,000 King Cotton on Jan. 28.