Derby split pleases owner of expected favorite

Hats off to the Cella family for splitting the Arkansas Derby, says a managing partner of Charlatan, “tickled to death” that the unbeaten Speightstown colt made the field for Saturday’s Grade 1 race for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn Park.

Charlatan was installed as an even-money favorite in the first division, his odds expected to shrink as the only leader at the first call of a race. The colt is 2 for 2, both on the lead and by a combined margin of 16 lengths. Sired by a champion sprinter, Charlatan makes his stakes debut going nine furlongs in what also will be his first start outside California.

On a teleconference Tuesday, Jack Wolf, a managing partner of Starlight Racing, had noted that in Charlatan’s “first race, where he broke his maiden, he ran against Shooters Shoot … and that horse looks like a very good horse off his last win over there at Oaklawn. I think it’ll be interesting to see how that all works out.” Wolf made those comments before trainer Peter Eurton said Shooters Shoot would miss the race.

Charlatan stands out in his group, which has only two other stakes winners. Projected early rivals include Gouverneur Morris, second choice at 9-2, and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Anneau d’Or at 6-1. Gouverneur Morris and Farmington Road, in the second division, represent five-time Arkansas Derby-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, who plans to watch the races from Florida.

Wolf has traveled this road with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, under whose handling Justify, an unraced 2-year-old, became the sport’s 13th Triple Crown winner in 2018 during a perfect sixrace career.

“Until Charlatan had his two-turn race last time out, I think Bob may have had some concerns on the distance limitations,” Wolf said. “But the way he galloped out and won the race, I think, calmed his nerves a little bit.”

Oaklawn split the Arkansas Derby Sunday for the first time after 22 horses entered. The first division is Race 11, followed by the Grade 2 $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap, and the second division goes as Race 13. The closing-day card, which under COVID-19 restrictions will be contested before an empty grandstand, features 14 races and starts at noon. Television coverage is set on NBC Sports, TVG and Fox Sports 1 with wagering available online at sites including Oaklawnanywhere.com.

Oaklawn moved the Arkansas Derby from April 11 to May 2 after the coronavirus pandemic shut down most other tracks. The original $1 million purse was trimmed to $750,000 — then to $500,000 for both divisions — after Oaklawn cut record purses to remain open after April 18.

“They don’t even have their casino running, and for them to do what they’ve done, it’s been a godsend,” Wolf said of Oaklawn. “And thank goodness, Churchill Downs and Oaklawn sat down and came up with a way to split the race, with $500,000 in each race.”

Nadal, another undefeated Baffert trainee, is the 5-2 program favorite in the second division of the Arkansas Derby. The Blame colt makes his second Oaklawn start with a 3-for-3 career mark off his March 14 victory in the Grade 2 $1 million Rebel. With the defection of Fast Runner, Nadal also has nine rivals.

Both divisions offer 170 points to the top four finishers for a possible start in the rescheduled Grade 1 Kentucky Derby Sept. 5.

“I’m just tickled to death that there were 22 horses, or we probably wouldn’t have drawn in with Charlatan,” Wolf said. “So it’s all to the Cellas.”

• Oaklawn announced that Charlatan, Nadal and champion Storm the Court, all entered in the Arkansas Derby, arrived on the backstretch around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday following a flight from California. Other arrivals included Combatant, a past Oaklawn winner for Steve Asmussen coming off a Grade 1 victory in the Santa Anita Derby. Combatant goes in the Oaklawn Handicap, which drew 14 older horses at the same mile-and-eighth distance as the Arkansas Derby.

• Today’s nine-race card, starting at 1:05 p.m., precedes a closing weekend with six stakes. Friday’s card includes the Grade 3

$400,000 Fantasy and inaugural $80,000 Gardenia for 3-year-old fillies and the $165,000 Arkansas Breeders’ Championship for state-bred horses.