Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
OAKLAWN Mourinho could make a splash in Southwest
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mourinho may be making his first start on a wet track Monday, when he will be the probable favorite in the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
“The only time he gets his feet wet is on the wash rack,” joked his Southern California-based trainer, Bob Baffert.
Mourinho is part of an 11-horse field for the Southwest, a 1 1/16-mile points race for the Kentucky Derby which was drawn on Friday. The local forecast for Monday called for a high of 70 degrees and a 50 percent chance of scattered thundershowers, according to The Weather Channel. Rain was also expected overnight Sunday during what has been a wet week at Oaklawn.
The Southwest will share a card with the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap, which also drew 11, including Untrapped, Sonneteer, and Shotgun Kowboy. The program of 10 races will start at 1:05 p.m. Central. The Southwest will award 17 points for the Kentucky Derby, divided among the first four finishers on a scale of 10-4-2-1.
The Southwest field also includes Sporting Chance, who will be making his first start since winning the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga; Combatant, the runner-up to Mourinho in last month’s Smarty Jones at Oaklawn; and Principe Guilherme, a surprise entrant who also has been entered in the Risen Star, which was to be run Saturday at Fair Grounds. A decision on Principe Guilherme’s status had not been made as of late morning Friday.
“We entered him today in the Southwest to weigh our options between the $500,000 Southwest and the $400,000 Risen Star, which runs Saturday at Fair Grounds,” trainer Steve Asmussen said Friday.
Mourinho flew into Arkansas on Friday from Southern California. He will break from post 4 in the Southwest. Mourinho comes off a wire-to-wire win in the Smarty Jones, in which he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 99. Mourinho has made four starts, all on fast tracks, including his debut win, which came over Instilled Regard, who was to start as the probable favorite in the Risen Star.
“Hopefully he likes the wet,” Baffert said Friday. “We haven’t gotten much rain here in California. It’s been a really beautiful winter.”
Drayden Van Dyke has the mount on Mourinho, a son of Super Saver who races for Phoenix Thoroughbred III.
A wet track would also be a new variable for Principe Guilherme, as well as Asmussen’s other entrants in the Southwest: Combatant, Retirement Fund, and Zing Zang.
“That’s a big question mark,” Asmussen said Friday. “All of the participants we have in it, they do not have any wet-track experience and it’s looking like it’s going to be wet.”
The complete Southwest field from the rail with riders is: My Boy Jack, Kent Desormeaux; Sporting Chance, Luis Saez; Principe Guilherme, Florent Geroux ; Mourinho, Van Dyke; Road to Damascus, John Velazquez; Seven Trumpets, Robby Albarado; Retirement Fund, Shaun Bridgmohan; Zing Zang, Corey Lanerie; Kentucky Club, Ramon Vazquez; Combatant, Ricardo Santana, Jr.; and Ezmosh, Gary Stevens.
Mourinho was joined on his Friday flight by stablemate Zulfikhar, who is entered in a Monday allowance at Oaklawn. The horses were accompanied by Jimmy Barnes, longtime assistant to Baffert.
“Jimmy said both horses shipped good,” Baffert said Friday.
The Southwest goes as the ninth race, with a scheduled post of 5:10 p.m. Central.
The Razorback is slotted as the eighth race with a post of 4:35 p.m. The complete field from the rail with riders is: Untrapped, Santana; Far Right, Stevens; Hawaakom, Lanerie; J Boys Echo, Albarado; Leofric, Saez; Sonneteer, Desormeaux; Shotgun Kowboy, Luis Quinonez; Rated R Superstar, Channing Hill; Rocking the Boat, Fernando De La Cruz; Futile, Luis Contreras; and The Lieutenant, Van Dyke.
Asmussen said that Untrapped, winner of last year’s Oklahoma Derby, will add blinkers for the Razorback. He will be the 117-pound highweight. Sonneteer is weighted next at 116. He flew in Friday from Southern California along with stablemate My Boy Jack, who is in the Southwest. Both horses are trained by Keith Desormeaux.
◗ Oaklawn announced Friday it is not receiving horses that have been at Belmont Park or the Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Ky., since Jan. 24. The ban is due to equine herpesvirus quarantines. Oaklawn also is not receiving horses from Turfway Park or Turf Paradise.
◗ The progressive cash giveaway promotion that traditionally runs Monday will be held Sunday, said Jennifer Hoyt, spokeswoman for Oaklawn. A total of $54,000 will be awarded in drawings Sunday.