Whitmore kicking off season

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The road back to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint starts now for Whitmore.

Whitmore was second in the championship race in November and on Saturday makes his first start since in the $150,000 Hot Springs at Oaklawn Park.

The Hot Springs is a sixfurlong sprint for 4-year-olds and up, and it serves as the local stepping-stone to the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap. Whitmore has completed the Hot Springs-Count Fleet double each of the last two years at Oaklawn.

“Our Oaklawn goal is the Count Fleet, and this is the race we’ll use to try to point us to that,” trainer Ron Moquett said.

Whitmore will break from the rail in a field of six that includes Heartwood, winner of last month’s $100,000 King Cotton at Oaklawn; Welder, who won five stakes last year, including four straight at Remington Park; and Share the Upside, who makes his stakes debut after putting up the meet’s current second highest Beyer Speed Figure, a 100, in an allowance in January.

KEY CONTENDERS

Whitmore, by Pleasantly Perfect Last 3 Beyers: 104-100-104

◗ He left Oaklawn last year after winning his sixth local race in the Count Fleet and became a Grade 1 winner in the Forego at Saratoga.

“I couldn’t have been more proud,” said Moquett, who also co-owns Whitmore. “The Forego is one of the races I put on my checklist of races I wanted to win, and I was so happy that this horse did it for us.”

◗ Whitmore, who boasts an 11-for-24 record with earnings of $2.3 million, also races for Robert LaPenta and Head of Plains Partners.

◗ Whitmore has been prepping at Oaklawn for his first out since finishing second by 3 1/4 lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint won by champion Roy H. Whitmore broke last of all from the rail and closed fast in the Nov. 3 race at Churchill Downs.

“I thought he ran very well,” Moquett said. “Of course, I wish we had a better break. I think that to finish second against that caliber of competition, to overcome what he did to do that, I think that was very impressive on his part.”

◗ Ricardo Santana Jr., the regular rider on Whitmore, has the mount again Saturday. Share the Upside, by Maclean’s Music Last 3 Beyers: 100-95-92

◗ He has stepped up his game in recent times, winning backto-back allowances in his last two starts. Share the Upside won a first-level sprint by 4 3/4 lengths Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs, then came back to capture a second-level sprint by 5 1/4 lengths Jan. 27 at Oaklawn.

“Obviously, he’s got ability,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “I think that we’ve done a better job spacing his races and getting more out of him. His last two races are very impressive, but the older sprinters here are as good as it gets. It will be a very interesting race for him.”

◗ Ramon Vazquez has the mount on Share the Upside, who races for the partnership of Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings and Windsor Boys Racing.