AT THE POST

FRIDAY’S ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE

4,750

FRIDAY’S ON-TRACK HANDLE

$484,620

FRIDAY’S OFF-TRACK HANDLE

$4,750,345

FRIDAY’S TOTAL HANDLE

$5,234,965

FRIDAY’S STAR

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. won two races Friday. He won the first race aboard She’s Fire and Ice ($16.00, $9.00), covering 6 furlongs in 1:11.23, and the ninth race with Willful Woman ($5.20, $3.00, $2.60), covering 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.89.

WELLS BAYOU’S COMEBACK

As a star wide receiver during the mid-1980s at the University of Arkansas-Monticello, Lance Gasaway is aware of injuries and the lengthy down time between seasons. Wells Bayou, co-owned by Gasaway and his father, Clint, is an equine reminder of that. A year ago, Wells Bayou was coming off a victory in the $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds and headed for the Kentucky Derby. Then covid-19 hit, the Kentucky Derby was moved to September, Wells Bayou finished a disappointing fifth in the second division of the rescheduled $500,000 Arkansas Derby in May at Oaklawn, and bone bruising sidelined the Lookin At Lucky colt for the remainder of 2020. Wells Bayou, who is trained by Brad Cox, is scheduled to make just his second start since the Arkansas Derby in the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile for older horses today at Oaklawn. “It’s been a long, drawn-out year for Wells,” Lance Gasaway said. In his only start this year, Wells Bayou ran third in the $125,000 Louisiana Stakes on Jan. 16 at Fair Grounds. Wells Bayou was scratched from the $200,000 Mineshaft Stakes on Feb. 13 at Fair Grounds because of a minor illness, Gasaway said, then missed the $500,000 Essex Handicap on March 13 at Oaklawn with a foot issue. “Just been one thing after another with him,” Gasaway said. “It’s horrible. We were worried about getting him back. He just got so big. He grew so much and put so much weight on, I think it just took longer to get him in shape. “Really felt good after that Louisiana Stakes. Actually, the week before the Mineshaft, he worked a :59.80 (5 furlongs) down there and Brad said, ‘Hey, he’s ready.’ We really thought we had a shot to beat Maxfield. Really did. He was training that well, then had to lay him off a month with all that other crap.” Wells Bayou returned to Oaklawn on Sunday, according to Jorgito Abrego, who oversees Cox’s local division. Wells Bayou made three starts last year in Hot Springs, recording a powerful first-level allowance victory in his two-turn debut before finishing second in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes and fifth behind Nadal in the second division of the Arkansas Derby. “To be honest with you, this race, Brad thinks this is just going to be another conditioning race,” Gasaway said. “In fact, we’re still a race away from getting him back like he was. But it’s a shorter race, so we decided to give it a go. Hopefully, we’ll run good.”

FINISH LINES

X-rays revealed no broken bones for jockey Rocco Bowen, who was unseated shortly after the finish of Thursday’s ninth race, his agent, Joe Steiner, said in a text message Thursday night. Bowen, who was removed from the track by ambulance, had ridden seven winners at the meeting through Thursday. … Jockey Jon Court recorded his 698th career Oaklawn victory aboard Kat’s Hitman ($11) in Thursday’s first race for trainer Michael Hewitt. Court is trying to become the sixth rider in Oaklawn history to reach 700 career victories.