Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Amy’s Challenge to see a few familiar adversaries
HOT SPRINGS — Rematches are underway at Oaklawn Park.
More than a third of the way into the 2019 Oaklawn meet, the second round of stakes races has begun, and they continue today with the $100,000, 5½-furlong Spring Fever for fillies and mares 4 years old and up.
Of the projected field of eight, five raced Jan. 26 in Oaklawn’s American Beauty Stakes, a $100,000 6-furlong race. Novogratz Racing Stable’s 4-year-old filly Amy’s Challenge romped to a 5½-length victory in 1:09.32.
Amy’s Challenge is listed as the 7-5 morning-line favorite, and she will again face a field deep in class that includes Vertical Oak, who has $772,095 in career earn- ings and is trained by Steve Asmussen. The 2018 American Beauty winner, Swing and Sway trained by Ron Moquett, is also in the field.
“That performance [by Amy’s Challenge] was as nice as I’ve seen run by a filly sprinter here in a long time,” Moquett said.
“You always want your horses to win,” Amy’s Challenge trainer Mac Robertson said. “I think she’s pretty good right now. She’s the fastest horse in the race, so I like my chances.”
Vertical Oak finished eighth of nine in the American Beauty as the 4-5 favorite, 15½ lengths behind Amy’s Challenge.
“Horses don’t run their race every time,” Robertson said. “They’re not machines. I think [Asmussen] will get a big race from her this time.”
Amy’s Challenge, by Artie Schiller, has been Robertson’s most notable success and challenge. Bred to run well short and long, she has struggled to rate in route races — though she hung on after fast starts at Oaklawn last season to finish second and third, respectively, in the Grade III
1 1/16th-mile Honeybee and Fantasy stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
After the Spring Fever, Robertson said he will consider another route test for Amy’s Challenge.
“She relaxes a little bit better than she did last year, and that helps,” Robertson said. “When horses relax, they can run a little bit further. Obviously, she’s awfully fast. If she can run fast a little further, she’ll be tough, and she is relaxing a little better. I think she will rate better. Depending on her effort [today], we’ll see how it goes.”
Whereas pace judgment is perhaps less critical in sprints than routes, it remains a significant consideration for riders in any race, including those at 5½ furlongs.
“No matter what, there’s pace judgment involved,” Moquett said. “You have to remember that thoroughbreds were originally bred to go three to five miles. To them, anything under a mile is a sprint. It doesn’t mean pace doesn’t have to be involved, but this race is as close as we get to the 100-yard dash.”
“Sometimes jockeys push their horses a little harder in 5½-furlong races, I think,” Robertson said. “Sometimes horses don’t like that. When horses don’t like something, it takes them out of their games, and that usually doesn’t work out well. If a horse wants to come from last, let them come from last. If they want to go to the front, let them go to the front”