Santana Jr. back on top of standings
Ricardo Santana Jr. rode four winners Sunday at Oaklawn, including the 500th in his career for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, to regain the lead in the jockey standings.
Santana, Oaklawn’s leading rider the last six years, reached the milestone with Asmussen when favored Bayerd ($5.60) captured the ninth race, a starter-allowance sprint for older horses, by a head. Santana also won two other races on the card for Asmussen – the second race with favored Street Trust ($4.80) and fourth race with favored One Man Party ($4.80). Santana won the sixth race with favored Mylady Curlin ($4.60) for trainer Brad Cox.
Bayerd represented Santana’s 449th career Oaklawn victory. He has ridden 192 winners for Asmussen in Hot Springs. Santana rode his first horse for Asmussen in 2012 and his first winner for the trainer Feb. 3, 2013, at Oaklawn (Five Star David).
“All I can tell you is we take it a day at a time,” Santana’s agent, Ruben Munoz, said. “We try hard. We’re very grateful for the opportunities and try to take advantage of those opportunities because you don’t get many of them and all of them are important.”
Bayerd was making his first start for Asmussen since he claimed the horse, on behalf of owner Clark Brewster, for $8,000 out of a runnerup finish Feb. 9. Bayerd has spent most of his 36race career with Brewster and Asmussen, recording his biggest career victory in the $250,000 Springboard Mile for 2-yearolds in 2014 at Remington Park. They lost Bayerd through a $25,000 claim last March at Oaklawn.
Sunday’s victory, Bayerd’s seventh in 36 lifetime starts, bumped his career earnings to $663,836. He is a three-time stakes winner. Street Trust is also owned by Brewster, a Tulsa attorney.
Through Sunday, Santana had ridden 500 winners from 2,397 mounts for Asmussen, with purse earnings of $29,047,395, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. They had teamed for 73 stakes victories. With an ! Point Trainer Brad Cox said Exclamation Point, a 4-year-old half-brother to champion and 2017 Arkansas Derby winner Classic Empire, is under consideration for two stakes races at the meeting following a victory earlier this month at Fair Grounds.
Based this winter at Oaklawn, Exclamation Point held off Hawaakom by a head in a March 5 allowance race at 1 1/16 miles. Hawaakom won the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses last year at Oaklawn. Finishing fourth in the allowance race, beaten three-quarters of a length, was Tenfold, who broke his maiden last year at Oaklawn before winning the $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga. Tenfold also ran third in the Preakness (G1), the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown.
Cox said it was “by far” the best race Exclamation Point has run in his fiverace career.
“He stepped up and fought off some seasoned horses,” Cox said. “It was a big step up for him. We’ll bring him back up here at some point.”
Cox said Exclamation Point is under consideration for the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes April 14 and the inaugural $250,000 Oaklawn Mile May 3. The chestnut son of Concord Point has never run in a stakes race.
After winning his first three career starts last year, including maiden and first-level allowance events at Oaklawn, Exclamation Point suffered his first loss in his 4-year-old debut, a Feb. 10 allowance run over a sloppy track.
Exclamation Point, who races for his breeders, Steve and Brandi Nicholson, and Staton Flurry of Hot Springs, has earned $172,600. The Leaders Through last Sunday, the 31st day of the scheduled 57-day meeting, sixtime defending champion Ricardo Santana Jr. held a 37-35 lead over David Cohen in the race for leading jockey. Santana, who rode four winners last Sunday, also topped all riders in purse earnings ($1,954,918). Santana, 26, set a single-season Oaklawn record for purse earnings ($4,240,304) last year.
Cohen didn’t ride last Sunday because he was serving the first day of a two-day suspension for an incident shortly after the start of the seventh race Feb. 14. Cohen is scheduled to resume riding Friday. Cohen ($1,216,635) ranked second in purse earnings through Sunday.
Two other jockeys, Ramon Vazquez and Jon Court, reached $1 million in purse earnings at the meet last Saturday.
Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen led all trainers with 30 victories, seven more than Robertino Diodoro. Asmussen, who had a triple last Sunday, is seeking his fourth consecutive local title and 10th since 2007. Asmussen was also No. 1 in purse earnings ($2,638,239).
M and M Racing (Mike and Mickala Sisk) led all owners with 30 victories. Danny Caldwell, Oaklawn’s leading owner in 2014-2017, was second with 13. M and M was also No. 1 in purse earnings ($862,474). M and M won 21 races last year at Oaklawn to capture its first career owner’s title and has also surpassed its purse earnings from the 2018 meet ($671,919). Finish Lines Trainer Doug O’Neill said Southern Californiabased Bizwhacks could return to Oaklawn for the $500,000 Fantasy (G3) for 3-year-old fillies April 12. “Definitely a consideration,” O’Neill said. Exiting a Feb. 3 maiden victory at Santa Anita, Bizwhacks finished third, beaten 2 ½ lengths, in the $200,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) March 9, the final major local prep for the Fantasy. “We’ve seen that over the years out here,” O’Neill said. “The straight maidens come up like graded stakes. She battled to get through her straight maiden and, boom, here she is, and she jumps up and runs good the first time against winners.” Honeybee runner-up Motion Emotion is pointing for the Fantasy, trainer Tom Van Berg said. … Dating to the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) last April with Magnum Moon, trainer Todd Pletcher has a 5-1-0 record from his last seven starts at Oaklawn, amassing $1,093,067 in purse earnings. Pletcher had a double Saturday, winning the fourth race with Triple Crown nominee Last Judgment ($8.60) and the sixth race with favored Life’s a Parlay ($3.60). Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez rode both winners. Pletcher and Velazquez teamed to win the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses Feb. 18 with Coal Front. … Stewart Elliott, who had 12 victories at the meeting through Sunday, said he plans to ride at the Churchill Downs spring meeting. … Post positions were drawn Wednesday for Saturday’s $125,000 Gazebo Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters and the $100,000 Nodouble Breeders’ Cup for Arkansas-bred sprinters.