Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Oaklawn season starts
Smarty Jones Stakes highlights nine-race card.
HOT SPRINGS — Opening day is here for Oaklawn and the start of its most popular series.
Racing fans and horsemen at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort and many more across the country and around the world will watch as seven 3-year-old colts run in the $150,000 1-mile Smarty Jones Stakes, the first of four to offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points, with 10, 4, 2, and 1 earned by horses who finish first through fourth, respectively.
“We’re very excited to have points for the Derby in the Smarty Jones,” Oaklawn President Louis Cella said. “Frankly, that’s what it’s about. For everyone in racing, their goal is the Kentucky
Derby. You don’t know until [this] race whether you’re going to be on the road to the Derby or not.”
Whereas no fans were allowed to attend Oaklawn from March 13, 2020, through the end of the season because of restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, crowds this year will be limited to about 6,000 until further notice. There will be no free general admission, but those who reserve boxes in the track’s grandstand or restaurants can host up to five guests. Masks will be required inside the facility and on its grounds throughout the day.
The Smarty Jones has a post time scheduled for 4:11 p.m.
The 9-5 morning-line favorite is William and Corinne Heiligbrodt’s, Madaket Stable’s, and Spendthrift Farm’s Cowan, trained
by Eclipse Award finalist Steve Asmussen, a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Defending and seven-time Oaklawn champion jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., is ex- pected to ride.
In his last start, Cowan, finished second in the Springboard Mile at Remington Park in Oklahoma City on Dec. 18 to earn four Kentucky Derby qualifying points.
Shortleaf Stable’s Caddo River trained by Eclipse Award finalist Brad Cox, is the 5-2 second choice. Caddo River, named by Shortleaf Stable owner John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs after the river that runs south of Hot Springs from the Ouachita National Forrest, won at 1 mile in a maiden special-weight race at Chur- chill Downs on Nov. 15 in his last start.
Anthony said the pandemic has limited his time with and exposure to Caddo River.
“I know him by what I’m being told, and, of course, Brad thinks highly of him and feels like, as Brad says, ‘This is a good horse,’ so we’ll see how good.”
Jockey Joe Talamo is listed to ride Sonata Stable’s Moonlite Strike. Moonlite Strike is trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., who will start his first full season at Oaklawn. Moonlite Strike is 4-1 in the program.
Talamo typically watches streaming race replays of his mounts’ competition, and several Smarty Jones entrants have impressed him.
“This one’s not easy, and they only get tougher and tougher as they go on,” Talamo said. “This is definitely a good first step to see where we stand.”
Talamo will ride Moonlite Strike for the first time.
“He’s won his last two races, but he’s going to have to improve to compete with these horses,” Joseph, Jr., said.
“He seems like he’s progressing, so we’re going to give him a chance. He needs to improve a few lengths, but he’s eligible to improve. If he runs his race, I think he’ll be competitive.”
Asmussen also trains Alex and Joann Lieblong’s Big Thorn. Big Thorn is 9-2 on the morning line and the only entrant to have raced as a 3-year-old. He finished sixth of nine in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., on Jan. 2.
Novogratz Racing Stable’s Martini Blu, trained by Mac Robertson, is the field’s only entrant with fewer than three starts. He has started one race, a win at 1 mile and 70 yards against eight others at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, Ill., on Dec. 27.
Martini Blu ran just off the pace in his only start, which Robertson said pleased him.
“He was kind of a speed-crazy horse this summer, and I didn’t want to run him,” Robertson said. “He was showing too much speed, just go to the front. Sometimes it takes longer than you would like for them to tone down a little, even their first time. Once you run them, it’s hard to slow them down, but he rated some the first time [at Hawthorne], passed horses, and probably got something out of the race.”
Oaklawn’s next Kentucky Derby-qualifiers are the Grade III 1 1/16-mile Southwest Stakes on Feb. 15, the Grade II 1 1/16-mile Rebel Stakes on March 13, and the Grade I 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby on April 10.
Cella said he always hopes for a Kentucky Derby contender to emerge from Oaklawn.
“You watch the 2-yearolds in the fall to see if they have staying power,” Cella said. “Then we get the 2-year-olds to see if they have what it takes or they don’t.”
“This one’s not easy, and they only get tougher and tougher as they go on. This is definitely a good first step to see where we stand.”
Jockey Joe Talamo, on the Smarty Jones competition