Handicap winner sets high standard
Winning outside New Orleans for the first time Saturday, By My Standards raised his own. Winning the Grade 2 $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap, the Goldencents 4-year-old proved himself more than a Fair Grounds sensation.
That came clear early in the dinner hour when By My Standards, trained by Bret Calhoun, ran down local stakes winner Warrior’s Charge by 1 3/4 lengths in Oaklawn Park’s premier race for older horses. With the fastest nine furlongs of the meeting (1:47.80), By My Standards took his “A” game outside Louisiana after winning consecutive races at Fair Grounds, where he captured the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby last year at 22-1.
Overcoming the No. 12 in a field reduced to 13 after the scratch of Improbable, By My Standards dogged Warrior’s Charge down the backstretch, one length separating the two after a half-mile in 46.91 seconds and with the margin down to a head after six furlongs in 1:10.67.
With Gabriel Saez aboard, By My Standards went by from outside at the head of the stretch and increased his margin. He paid $11, $6.40 and $4.20 with Brad Cox-trained Warrior’s Charge,
the last-out Grade 3 Razorback Handicap winner Feb. 17 second, and last-out Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile winner Mr Freeze third for Dale Romans. Mr. Freeze, the 3-1 post-time favorite, finished almost two lengths ahead of Tacitus, a multiple stakes winner at 3 for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott last year.
“He ran good. Wasn’t like we were the only speed,” said Saez, who followed the winner from Louisiana. “They were fair fractions. Not suicidal by any means.
“My horse had a long time between races and I think he got a little tired. He was also stretching out (to 1 1/8 miles), which is a question for him. It was a tough race and he showed up.”
Bet on it: Financially, closing day of a convoluted Oaklawn season ended historically. The track’s 14 races, highlighted by the Oaklawn Handicap and split divisions of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, generated more than $40 million in wagering. … Ricardo Santana Jr. claimed his seventh local riding title with 60 winners, Martin Garcia placing second with 55 and Joe Talamo third with 53 in their first extended Oaklawn seasons. Defending Oaklawn champion David Cohen placed fourth with 44 winners. … Trainer Robertino Diodoro denied Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen a fifth consecutive Oaklawn title and 11th overall. Dunph, a last-out $30,000 claim, paid $117.60 for the horse’s second meet victory Saturday and Diodoro’s 52nd. Asmussen, with a training double Saturday, finished second with 48 winners, followed by Brad Cox (26). … With 27 victories, M and M Racing (Mike and Mickayla Sisk) topped Oaklawn owners for a second-straight year.