Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Shinier resumes no match
HOT SPRINGS — Typical of most races with a purse of a half-million dollars or more, the Grade III Razorback Handicap field of 11 was loaded with credentials.
Apparently, horses don’t read tout sheets.
Hawaakom, who had never before won a graded stakes race, dashed down the rail at 9-1 under jockey Corey Lanerie in the homestretch, took the lead late from Leofric and pulled away to win the $500,000 1 1/16-mile Razorback by 3¼ lengths in 1:45.14 before an estimated crowd of 20,500 at Oaklawn
Park on Monday.
Luis Saez road Leofric, by Candy
Ride, to second at 7-2,
1½ lengths in front of Rocking the Boat, who was guided to third at 33-1 by jockey Fernando De La Cruz. Untrapped finished fourth, 1¾ lengths behind Rocking the Boat.
“Lanerie up the rail,’’ said Hawaakom trainer Wes Hawley in an attempt to mimic track announcer Vic Stauffer. “I couldn’t believe it. What a great ride.”
“I had a great trip,” Lanerie said. “The horse fits that trip really well. He loves the inside.”
Hawaakom’s win marked Hawley’s first as a graded-stakes trainer.
Leofric trainer Brad Cox said he appreciated his jockey’s effort, but he also clearly admired Hawaakom’s performance.
“I thought maybe we had it at the 16th pole, and then I saw that horse moving up the inside,” Cox said. “Obviously, he appeared to be the best.”
Hawaakom’s recent list of performances did not sparkle, but the 8-year-old gelded son of Jazil finished second to racing superstar Gun Runner in the 2017 Razorback. His career earnings were fourth most in the field.
Eighth-placed Far Right was runner-up to American Pharoah in the 2014 Arkansas Derby; J Boys Echo, who finished last, won last season’s Grade III Gotham Stakes at New York’s Aqueduct on the Road to the Kentucky Derby; and Shotgun Kowboy, in ninth, became the only horse in the race with purse earnings of $1 million or more after an allowance victory at Oaklawn on Feb. 3. Untrapped, Sonneteer, Far Right and J Boys Echo had each raced in a Kentucky Derby.
Perhaps the biggest surprise came from Rocking the Boat, the 4-year-old son of Arch who entered without a previous stakes race of any sort.
“He’s such a nice horse,” De La Cruz said. “I was able to get him in good position.”