Becker’s fingerprints all over handicap

STICKNEY, Ill. – Seven Illinois-breds were entered in the $75,000 Robert S. Molaro, a six-furlong overnight handicap for 3-year-olds and up at Hawthorne. Scott Becker trains three of them and used to train two others.

“I guess without the ones I used to train there wouldn’t be a race,” Becker said Friday.

True enough. The former Beckers, W W Hotshot and Wildwood Sicilian, look a cut below the current Beckers, but are better than the other two in the Molaro, Hela and Huey Attack. The trio that Becker plans to run – Walker’s Win, Fast Jack, and W W Scout’s Honor – all are capable.

“Any given day, the right trip, the break – who knows?” Becker said. “I think they’re all pretty even.”

Becker standby Victor Santiago is aboard Fast Jack. Reynier Arrieta comes from Fairmount to ride Walker’s Win, while Indiana-based Deshawn Parker has been booked for W W Scout’s Honor. Chris Emigh would be aboard one of the three but is riding Sunday at Churchill.

Becker and Charles Ritter are listed as owners for all three of these horses. Walker’s Win and W W Scout’s Honor were bred by William Stiritz, for whom Becker was a private trainer. Operating one of the most successful operations in Illinois, Becker’s 62 horses now are based mainly at Fairmount Park, with many shipping to Churchill to race rather than to Hawthorne.

Walker’s Win and W W Scout’s Honor saw action at Oaklawn, while Fast Jack races for the first time since Nov. 21, when he was sixth in the $250,000 Steel Valley Sprint at Mahoning Valley. In his previous start, Fast Jack had been second in the Lightning Jet at Hawthorne to stablemate W W Cookie Monster, who was retired earlier this year.

While Becker could not find a race this spring for Fast Jack, he has gotten ample work into the 4-year-old.

“I would say he’s as good for this as you can get,” Becker said.

Walker’s Win made his first five starts at Fairmount before winning three straight Hawthorne sprint allowance races, two late last year and the third on March 30. He ran into the very tough sprinter Skelly while finishing fifth May 6 at Oaklawn in the Lake Hamilton. Drawn on the rail, Walker’s Win should be positioned in the second flight.

W W Scout’s Honor breaks from post 7. Third or better in 13 of his 16 starts, W W Scout’s Honor began his season with a sixth-place finish in Walker’s Win’s Hawthorne allowance score, but with a legitimate excuse: The gelding got off to a slow start because his head was turned when the gate sprang, Becker said.

W W Scout’s Honor rebounded to finish second in a first-level Oaklawn allowance race, but lacks the upside of his more lightly raced stablemates. Of those, Fast Jack is the longer price on the track’s morning line, and he only needs to avoid a speed duel with W W Hotshot to capture the Molaro.