Make way for old man: ‘Rated R’ wins Fifth Season
At an age when most horses his age are on parade at Old Friends Farm in Kentucky, Rated R Superstar is still punching a clock and winning major races.
One can thank Danny Caldwell, his Poteau, Oklahoma, owner, who admits a fondness for older horses. The man who won Oaklawn’s 2017 Fifth Season with a 9-year-old, Domain’s Rap, did it again Saturday with Rated R Superstar, whom Caldwell claimed for $50,000 off an Oaklawn victory last Jan. 30.
“These old horses just love their job and go out and do their best every time,” Caldwell said after Rated R Superstar, by a neck, scored his second Oaklawn stakes victory and fifth of a 57-race career that shows 10 wins and 10 seconds. With $90,000 Saturday, that comes to $1,271,014.
The Kodiak Kowboy gelding had not started since finishing second in a Remington Park allowance in September, one race after he took the Governor’s Cup at the owner’s home track. Caldwell took a shot that back class and a liking for the Oaklawn surface would compensate for any loss of recent racing, Rated R Superstar winning the 2019 Essex Handicap for previous trainer Cippy Contreras.
“The horse did all the work,” Caldwell said. “We gave him a break and (trainer) Federico (Villafranco) did a great job bringing him back. David
Cabrera gave him a perfect ride. He’s one of those hard-knocking horses that just knows his job.”
A second-out 2015 maiden winner at Ellis Park for Ken Mcpeek, for whom he later won two Grade 3 stakes, Rated R Superstar caught the Oaklawn crowd by surprise. Charging down the backstretch and later moved outside, he paid $53.80, $16.20 and $6.20 in a nine-horse field that a local stakes winner coming off an even longer vacation went off 3-2 favorite. Concert Tour, the Grade 2 Rebel winner last year for Bob Baffert but off since the Preakness May 15, finished last in his first start
for trainer Brad Cox.
“The pace went out early, and to be honest, I just let him run his race the whole way,” Cabrera said. “I rode him a couple of times before, so it was great that I knew him. Down the lane, I got a kick that was perfect. I was a little bit worried that I wouldn’t get there because I was a little bit wide. He gave me all he had, so that’s all you can ask for.”
Mucho almost lasted a mile in his first start around two turns, finishing a game second after leading down the backstretch under Florent Geroux. “I’m not surprised at all with the results,” trainer John Ortiz said. “But gosh, you hate to lose one like that. He ran a winning race. To run second, it’s heartbreaking.”
Thomas Shelby, seeking his first stakes victory over the track that he finished second to stablemate Lone Rock in the Dec. 18 Tinsel at nine furlongs, ran third under David Cohen. Fourth was Necker Island, a 2020 Kentucky Derby performer for Chris Hartman.
Silver Prospector, the 2020 Grade 3 Southwest winner, and Snapper Sinclair, the field’s leading money winner, took the next two spots for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen with Atoka and 2019 Grade 2 Rebel first-division winner Long Range Toddy next.
Said Joel Rosario, aboard Concert Tour: “He hadn’t run for a little while. He was there for a little while and looked like he a lost a little focus the last part of the race. We’ll see how he comes back the next time.”
In a perfect world, Rated R Superstar might target the Grade 2 $1 million Oaklawn Handicap, in which Domain’s Rap ran second in 2017, bettering his sixth-place finish of the previous year. But after clocking a fast-rated mile Saturday in 1:37.16 against a veteran cast under co-high weight of 122 pounds, Caldwell and Villafranco can take their time. After all, the Grade 3 $600,000 Razorback Handicap Feb. 12 and the $500,000 Essex March 19 precede the April 23 Oaklawn.
If nothing else, the Fifth Season winner can bask in retirement at his owner’s farm, where he’ll always be an old friend.
Eclipse Awards: Five 2021 Oaklawn stakes winners were nominated for Eclipse Awards Saturday with the top two trainers from last year’s meeting also selected.
The older dirt female finalists include Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap winner Letruska and Grade 2 Azeri winner Shedaresthedevil, the latter co-owned by Hot Springs horseman Staton Flurry. Marche Lorraine, surprise winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, is the lone non-oaklawn division nominee.
Essential Quality, the Grade 3 Southwest winner, is among the 3-year-old male nominees with disputed Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit and
Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good.
Aloha West, a debut winner at Oaklawn for Wayne Catalano who later took the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar, is a male sprinter finalist with Oaklawn-raced Jackie’s Warrior and West Coast star Flightline.
Mystic Guide, the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap winner, is a nominee for older dirt male with Horse of the Year favorite Knicks Go, a 2020 Oaklawn allowance winner, and Maxfield. Mystic Guide, trained by Mike Stidham, captured the Dubai World Cup after launching his 4-year-old season in Hot Springs.
Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the nation’s winningest trainer last year, and defending champion Brad Cox, the earnings leader, are nominated along with Chad Brown. Nominated jockeys are favorite and earnings leader Joel Rosario, currently at Oaklawn, defending champion Irad Ortiz Jr. and Flavien Prat. John Hiraldo, currently at Oaklawn, is a nominee as top apprentice jockey.
Voting is done by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on TVG and other outlets during the 51st annual Eclipse Awards Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. CST. The evening will conclude with the announcement of 2021 Horse of the Year.