Oaklawn Mile

Grade I winner Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike) picked up where he left off in 2019, pouncing late to deny 'TDN Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip) in the Oaklawn Mile S. Saturday. Saving ground, the 4-5 chalk bided his time well back off the pace in mid-pack as Pioneer Spirit (Malibu Moon) and Boldor (Munnings) traded blows through opening splits of :22.90 and :46.09. Grade I-winning Improbable (City Zip), who had been stalking wide throughout, pounced on the pacesetter on the backstretch to take control heading into the far turn. Meanwhile,...

Hot Springs has long been a sanctuary when people need to avoid New York. The mobster Owney Madden settled there in 1935; the following year, its casinos and obliging law enforcement made it an obvious place for Lucky Luciano to lie low. A relative concept, lying low: Luciano was swanking around the Hotel Arlington with his showgirl Gay Orlova, a Russian refugee described by Broadway impresario Earl Carroll as "the sexiest gal who ever worked for me." Luciano was dressed up for the races on Apr. 1 when he had...

GMB Racing's Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike) closed out 2019 with a pair of decisive scores and looks to continue that winning skein in 2020 in the Oaklawn Mile. Capturing Saratoga's Alydar S. In August, the bay was fourth in the GI Woodward S. later that month. Returning to winning ways with a 4 1/4-length score in Keeneland's GII Fayette S. Oct. 26, he scored his first victory at the highest level in the GI Clark S. at Churchill Downs Nov. 29. Mr. Money (Goldencents), on the other hand, looks to register...