Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Bravo wintering at Oaklawn
Jockey Joe Bravo, a winner of more than 5,000 races, plans to winter at the Oaklawn Park meet, which opens on Jan. 25, according to his agent, Tony King.
Bravo is currently based at Fair Grounds.
King said Bravo has stakes engagements at Fair Grounds on Jan. 19. He also said the rider is scheduled to team with True Timber in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park.
True Timber is coming off a runner-up finish to Patternrecognition in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile. Bravo was aboard for Calumet Farm and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.
Bravo, who long has been a fixture on the East Coast, has had just a handful of mounts at Oaklawn through the years. He won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby with Danza in 2014 and the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap with Upstart in 2016. Bravo also won the Smarty Jones in 2012 with Junebugred.
There were a couple of reasons to head to Arkansas, said King, who also will represent Fernando Del La Cruz.
“The purses, and opportunity to hopefully ride live horses for several different people,” King said Saturday.
Bravo on Saturday won the $75,000 Pan Zareta at Fair Grounds for trainer Brad Cox, who also has a division of horses at Oaklawn.
Bravo is a career winner of 5,331 races, according to statistics from Daily Racing Form. Bravo has won multiple titles at Monmouth Park, and has won Grade 1 races on Sheer Drama, Big Blue Kitten, Blue Prize, A.P. Indian, Army Mule, Bradester, and Zipessa, among others.
King said De La Cruz is scheduled to begin working horses Sunday at Oaklawn.
Six Shooter to Smarty Jones
Six Shooter and jockey Tommy Pompell were gutsy winners of the $75,000 Big Drama on Saturday night at Delta Downs, slipping through a seam along the rail en route to a 1 1/4-length victory in the stakes for 3-year-olds.
“Tommy said I owed him riding boots – he scraped his on the rail,” joked Paul Holthus, who trains Six Shooter.
Holthus said Monday that Six Shooter is now a candidate for the $150,000 Smarty Jones for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn. The one-mile race will be run on the opening-day card Jan. 25.
Six Shooter won a stakes for the first time in the Big Drama. He traveled to Louisiana from his Oaklawn base in Arkansas.
“He came home the next day and came out of the race really good,” Holthus said. “The plan is to shoot for the Smarty Jones.”
Six Shooter earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 70 in the 7 1/2-furlong Big Drama.
“I thought he ran a really good race,” Holthus said. “Tommy Pompell gets a lot of the credit. [Six Shooter] ran a pretty big race, and Tommy rode a great race.”
Six Shooter is a son of Trappe Shot who has now won 3 of 7 starts, including an allowance in November at Churchill Downs. He races for Dundalk 5 LLC, N P H Stable, and Wes Herek.
Entries for the Smarty Jones will be drawn on Jan. 18, according to Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope.
Afternoon card boosts handle
Delta Downs put on a special afternoon program last Thursday, Jan. 3, and betting on the 10-race card from all sources was more than $2.5 million, a meet high, according to the track’s director of racing, Chris Warren.
Delta made the call to switch to the afternoon post eight days in advance, after Warren noticed there were few tracks putting on daytime cards a few days removed from the New Year’s holiday. He received commission approval for the switch. The decision for the daytime post was made prior to entries being taken for Jan. 3.
“That day just happened to be a perfect storm,” Warren said of last Thursday. “We tried to take advantage and it paid off.”
Delta has night programs scheduled for the remainder of its meet, which began Oct. 17 and ends March 9.
◗ Delta Downs-based jockey Roberto Morales has a serious rooting interest for the upcoming Eclipse Awards. He is the older brother of Edgar Morales, who on Saturday was named one of the finalists for outstanding apprentice jockey of 2018.
◗ Zacksgotthis, Noisey Boy, and Salutetheprince appear to be the chief players in Wednesday night’s featured eighth race at Delta. The first-level allowance for 4-year-olds and up will be run at a mile and it is restricted to horses bred in Louisiana.
◗ The injured jockey Ashley Broussard has her first mounts since Oct. 19 in Wednesday night’s fourth and fifth races at Delta.
◗ Quincy Hamilton has been riding regularly at Delta since last Thursday. He came from Tampa Bay Downs.
◗ Louisiana Downs opened a Quarter Horse meet Saturday, and also operates as a training center for Thoroughbreds and weekend workers. Brad Cox and Robertino Diodoro are among those who train horses there. Both have stables at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.