Oaklawn Park

Long Weekend (Majesticperfection) just got his head down on the line to gamely defeat 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Town (Speightstown) in Saturday's $100,000 Bachelor S. at Oaklawn Park in a race that didn't deserve a loser. Last term's GI American Pharoah S. winner 'TDN Rising Star' Eight Rings (Empire Maker), off since a well-beaten sixth-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, faded to fifth as the 4-5 favorite. Drawn widest of all in post six, Long Weekend shot out to the front and was greeted immediately by Echo Town...

9th-Oaklawn, $62,000, Alw (NW2$X)/Opt. Clm ($40,000), 4-24, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:08.48, ft. VOLATILE (c, 4, Violence--Melody Lady {SW}, by Unbridled's Song), a first-out winner at Ellis last July, came up 1 1/4-lengths short at Churchill Downs in September before rebounding to win by three lengths back at that venue Nov. 3. Sent off the 6-5 choice this time, the grey prompted Strike That (Biondetti) through crisp opening splits, assumed control turning for home and ran off to score by an eye-opening 7 1/2-length margin. Strike That finished 1 ½ lengths ahead...

Even Richard Wagner would have struggled to make anything of this particular "ring cycle". In four starts, Eight Rings (Empire Maker) has so far abruptly alternated the full works--strings, horns, kettle drums--with a timid clink of the triangle. As such, he certainly can't afford to break the cycle when surfacing for the first time since his Breeders' Cup bust in the Bachelor S. at Oaklawn Saturday. Dropping in grade and distance, in fact, he needs to produce the dominant sophomore performance of a day that also features a new stakes...

Top-level scorers Bellafina (Quality Road) and Mia Mischief (Into Mischief) will break from opposite ends of the gate Saturday at Oaklawn as the headliners of the Carousel S. A force to be reckoned with on the Santa Anita road to the GI Kentucky Oaks last spring, the bay has been winless since the GI Santa Anita Oaks in April, but finished off last term with a pair of strong seconds. Closing strongly to finish within 3/4 of a length of dual champion Covfefe (Into Mischief) in the GI Breeders' Cup...

Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Eight Rings (Empire Maker) makes his seasonal bow Saturday in Oaklawn's Bachelor S. An impressive debut winner at Del Mar Aug. 4, the $520,000 KEESEP buy ducked in sharply at the start of the GI Del Mar Futurity S. Sept. 2, bumping his neighbor and losing his rider. The dark bay returned with a decisive score in the GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita Sept. 27 and could only manage sixth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile in Arcadia when last seen Nov. 1....

Under normal circumstances, with many tracks running on a busy Saturday afternoon, it's not uncommon to see races at different venues go off on top of each other. The occurrence usually leads to a flurry of frustrated tweets, with bettors, fans and even racing participants wondering why the issue can't be remedied--it seems like it should be an easy fix. Last Saturday, the convergence of post times reached a new level of irrationality. With the Tampa Bay Downs card already in the books, just two Thoroughbred-only tracks were holding races--Gulfstream...

Last year's champion juvenile colt Storm the Court (Court Vision) is on target for the May 2 GI Arkansas Derby following a five-furlong work in 1:13.60 (3/3) at Santa Anita Monday, trainer Peter Eurton confirmed. Eurton also plans to enter Shooters Shoot (Competitive Edge), winner of a one-mile allowance at Oaklawn Apr. 11, for the nine-furlong race. "Very pleased with his work," Eurton said of Storm the Court. "Very pleased with Shooters Shoot. I know it's going to be tough on both ends with Bob [Baffert]'s two horses, but we're...

Well, I guess even Clement L. Hirsch might have had to scratch his head once or twice, if he were still around, to help confront the challenges facing Santa Anita over the past year or so. But there's no doubt that we could all, in the present crisis, usefully emulate the spirit of altruistic dynamism by which he sustained Californian racing in his own time. In 1969, Hirsch and his partners began a game-changing, not-for-profit enterprise at the Oak Tree Racing Association and established a similar regime at the Del...

Autumn Hill Farms Racing Stables Inc.'s Bobby's Wicked One (Speightstown), who was eased home last of 11 as the 9-2 fourth choice after attending a hot early pace in Saturday's GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. at Oaklawn, has emerged none the worse for wear from the effort, trainer Al Stall, Jr. said Monday. "Not so far, he's had a couple of days off, but he goes back to the track [Tuesday]," the conditioner said when asked if anything came to hand post-race. "He will throw in a clunker sometimes. He...

10th-Oaklawn, $60,000, Msw, 4-19, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:09.96, sy. MERNEITH (f, 3, American Pharoah--Flattermewithroses {SW}, by Flatter) With American Pharoah and Cairo Prince around, one would naturally expect Egyptian choices to be popular in the naming of horses, but the name of Oaklawn winner MERNEITH is really outstanding and fitting. She is a filly by American Pharoah and, "Merneith may have been the first female pharaoh and the earliest queen regnant in recorded history", according to Wikipedia. Please note the slight difference in the spelling of the designation of the...

Clint and Lance Gasaway, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables' Wells Bayou (Lookin at Lucky), most recently winner of the GII Louisiana Derby, continued training towards a potential start in the May 2 GI Arkansas Derby with a five-furlong work in 1:00.40 (9/17) at Oaklawn Park Sunday. Wells Bayou, on the outside during his drill with maiden stablemate Wild Union (Bayern), was credited with splits of :24.40 for his opening quarter-mile, :36.80 for three furlongs, :48.40 for a half-mile and galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.40 and seven furlongs in 1:26.40....

In 13 previous trips to the races at Oaklawn Park, Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) had never finished out of the top three, including a third-place effort to future GI Belmont S. hero Creator (Tapit) in the GI Arkansas Derby some four Aprils ago. Since reinvented as a top sprinter--not entirely shocking given that he won his first seven starts going one turn--the popular 7-year-old made history Saturday in Hot Springs, withstanding a run from last by Flagstaff (Speightstown) to land the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. for the third time in...