Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
C Z Rocket tries to hand Whitmore another home loss
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park is Whitmore’s house, and the champion will have to defend it like never before Saturday when he tries to win his fourth Count Fleet Sprint Handicap against such talented rivals as C Z Rocket, No Parole, Empire of Gold, Strike Power, and Mr. Jagermeister.
The Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet is one of three stakes supporting the Arkansas Derby. The lineup also includes the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile and $250,000 Carousel.
Whitmore won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last November en route to being voted champion male sprinter of 2020. C Z Rocket, who was second in the BC Sprint, won last month’s Hot Springs Stakes by a neck over Whitmore when both horses were launching their seasons. The rematch is one of the highlights of the meet at Oaklawn.
“C Z Rocket, with the race under his belt, should be fitter, but I imagine the same can be said for Whitmore,” said Peter Miller, who trains C Z Rocket. “I think the race will probably end up being about who gets the trip.”
Whitmore is the 123-pound highweight, but trainer Ron Moquett looks for favoritism to side with C Z Rocket.
“I love the way we’re coming into this race,” Moquett said. “I think that we’re going to give a better accounting of ourselves and I look forward to the race. I know there’s good horses, good competition. [C Z Rocket] should probably be the favorite and deservingly so, and we’re just going to try to come in here as kind of the underdog.”
Whitmore will break from post 2 under Ricardo Santana Jr. and could get an ideal pace setup behind No Parole, a Grade 1 winner who breaks from the rail, as well as Empire of Gold, who was fourth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and Strike Power and Mr. Jagermeister.
“We’re very versatile,” Moquett said. “I know that the Count Fleet is a feather in anybody’s cap that wins it, and we’re going to look and see how the race shapes up, and we’ll go from there. We’re just going to let it shake out and go in there with respect for everybody – and ready to run.”
C Z Rocket closed from last to take the Hot Springs. He will break from post 6 in the seven-horse Count Fleet and will again be ridden by Florent Geroux.
“I’m going to pretty much leave it up to Flo,” Miller said of tactics. “He knows the horse well. He’s won from close to the pace and he’s won from dead last. He can run either way.”
No Parole could be showing the way when he breaks from the rail under Ramon Vazquez. The horse found himself racing from off the pace last time, but that was not by design, said his trainer, Tom Amoss.
“He did not break well,” Amoss said. “He got stuck behind horses. That’s not his style. We’re trying to make the lead out of the gate.”
No Parole ended up finishing fourth in that March 20 race, the Costa Rising going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf against Louisiana-breds at Fair Grounds. On dirt, No Parole won the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park last summer.
Empire of Gold is another who brings high-quality speed to the table. Prior to the Breeders’ Cup, he was a close second in the Grade 2 Phoenix, racing on or close to the pace like in his Breeders’ Cup run at Keeneland. Now 4, Empire of Gold has prepped for his return at Sam Houston.
“Anywhere we’ve taken him so far he seems to handle it,” said trainer Terry Eoff. “He’s a good hauler. He’s the kind of horse that doesn’t miss a beat.
“Now he’s 4, and he’s matured a little bit.”
Empire of Gold will break from post 5 under David Cabrera.
“He’s a front-runner,” Eoff said. “That’s his style. He likes to be on the front. He likes the pressure. He runs better if he’s got somebody there to hook him. He likes that and seems to hang on pretty good. The last couple of races were as tough as you want to run in.”
Strike Power owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Figure, a 101 for a local allowance win in which he covered six furlongs in a sharp 1:08.91. Mr. Jagermeister is looking for his ninth stakes win Saturday.