Oaklawn Park

Trainer Todd Pletcher has unsaddled the winner of the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby a record five times--no one else has more than two to their credit--and he stands a fair chance to make it a half-dozen Saturday afternoon when he sends out the two favorites on the morning line. Pegged at odds of 8-5 is Whisper Hill Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit), who will attempt to provide his sire with a fourth winner of the race since in its last 10 runnings (Ring Weekend, 2014; the...

When Robert Garrett sold his power line company last year, he knew just how to fill up his free time. The Oklahoman headed to Ocala where, with the help of trainer Chris Hartman, he purchased a son of Cloud Computing for $220,000 at last year's OBS Spring Sale. Now named Two Eagles River, stakes-placed and fresh off a dominant allowance victory at Oaklawn Park, the 3-year-old has Garrett enjoying retirement. "I've owned horses out here in Oklahoma and I owned a stallion and some broodmares, but that's the first one...

Had he done this once, maybe twice, the easy conclusion would be that trainer Keith Desormeaux is just lucky. Anyone can stumble onto a good horse that slipped through the cracks at the sales and was bought for a song. But with Desormeaux there's obviously a lot more to it than that. He keeps finding these good horses that most everyone else overlooks, the latest example being Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}), the $25,000 buy at Keeneland September who won Saturday's $1-million GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn, securing a spot...

Don't Tell My Wife Stables' Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}) exited his upset win in Saturday's GII Rebel S. in fine shape, according to trainer Keith Desormeaux. "He's happy," Desormeaux said Sunday. "He looks a lot more calm and happy than he was in that damn [indoor] paddock." The Rebel victory propelled Confidence Game to the top of the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 57 points. Confidence Game shipped back to Desormeaux's Fair Grounds base Sunday afternoon, but could return to Oaklawn Park for the GI Arkansas Derby Apr. 1. "For...

Since breaking her maiden two starts back over a sloppy track at Horseshoe Indy last fall and parlaying that into a win last time out in the Martha Washington S. over a wet-fast track at Oaklawn, Wet Paint (Blame) proved that her fondness for the off going was no fluke Saturday with a rousing win in the GIII Honeybee S. The new leader on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with the 50 points earned Saturday giving her a total of 70 points, the Godolphin homebred broke a beat slow...

6th-Oaklawn, $90,000, Msw, 2-25, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:11.43, sy, 2 1/2 lengths. GROVE (f, 3, Munnings--Wishful Winking, by Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), off at odds of 9-1, took pressure inside and out for the opening half-mile of her debut run, but went through her gears in the stretch nevertheless to report home a good-looking winner. A $100,000 Fasig-Tipton July yearling turned $175,000 OBS April breezer, Grove did her pre-race work down at the Fair Grounds and stepped away smartly while joined to her inside by the rail-skimming Mary's Boon (Central...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 3rd-OP, $106K, OC, 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 2:03 p.m. Last seen checking in fourth in last July's GII Suburban S. at Belmont, MAX PLAYER (Honor Code) makes his 6-year-old debut Saturday in an optional claimer at Oaklawn. The picture of consistency throughout his career, the Steve Asmussen trainee was a Triple Crown contender in 2020, placing third behind Tiz the Law (Constitution) in both the rescheduled GI Belmont S. and the GI Runhappy Travers S. before finishing fifth behind future Horse of the Year Authentic (Into...

For all he's accomplished in a relatively short period of time, trainer Brad Cox yet to unsaddle a winner of the third leg of Oaklawn's 3-year-old series, the $1-million GII Rebel S. But he'll have two strong chances to right that wrong in an extremely contentious renewal Saturday afternoon. Verifying (Justify), a half-brother to champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), rounded out the exacta behind Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) in a sloppy-track running of the GI Champagne S. at Aqueduct Oct. 1 and never truly threatened in the GI Breeders' Cup...

There's been a mid-season reshuffling at the back of the pack within this week's rankings. The next significant target date on the GI Kentucky Derby trail that could shake up the Top 12 leaders will be the trio of preps in Florida, California and New York Mar. 4. 1) ARABIAN KNIGHT (c, Uncle Mo--Borealis Night, by Astrology) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.; B-Corser Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $250,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $2,300,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GSW, 2-2-0-0, $544.275 Last start: 1st GIII Southwest...

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen reached another personal milestone in his career on Monday at Oaklawn Park, winning his 10,000th race. The first North American trainer ever to reach that number, Asmussen recorded the historic win in the fifth race on the card with $40,000 maiden claimer Bet He's Ready (More Than Ready), an easy winner under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. "This is very hard to put into words," Asmussen said from the Oaklawn winner's circle. "There's all the support that we have continually gotten. This is a family...

Ten Strike Racing's Eyeing Clover (Lookin at Lucky), unbeaten in two lifetime starts, could make his stakes debut in the Mar. 4 GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct. The Brad Cox trainee opened his career with a 1 1/2-length victory going six furlongs at Oaklawn Park Dec. 31 and aired by 9 3/4 lengths going that same distance in a Fair Grounds allowance Jan. 28 (video). A win in the one-mile Gotham could earn Eyeing Clover a trip back to Oaklawn for the Apr. 1 GI Arkansas Derby, according to Ten...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-OP, $103K, OC, 3yo, 1m, 5:10 p.m. Last year at this time, Epicenter (Not This Time) was making his case as the Derby favorite after declaring victory in the GII Risen S. at Fair Grounds. This Sunday in Hot Springs, another Winchell Thoroughbreds-owned colt, DISARM (Gun Runner), who is a Triple Crown nominee, will begin to layout his own path to be in the starting gate in early May. A game third on debut to GIII Sanford S. victor Mo Strike (Uncle Mo) at Churchill...