Oaklawn

8th-OP, $106K, OC 50k/N2X, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 5:22 p.m. The Ken McPeek-trained duo of 'TDN Rising Star' SMILE HAPPY (Runhappy) and CREATIVE MINISTER (Creative Cause) kick off their 4-year-old seasons at Oaklawn Park Thursday. Smile Happy, winner of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at two and runner-up as the favorite in last year's GI Toyota Blue Grass S., makes his first start since finishing eighth in the GI Kentucky Derby. The 2-1 morning-line favorite gets first-time Lasix while facing seven rivals here. Creative Minister, a respectable third in last...

Last year's GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Secret Oath (f, 4, Arrogate--Absinthe Minded, by Quiet American) returned to the races in style in Saturday's GII Azeri S. at Oaklawn. The 7-5 second choice raced one from the back rounding the clubhouse turn after exiting from the one hole. Racing under a nice hold down the backstretch, she launched her familiar, wide sweeping move on the far turn, hit the front under confident handling in the stretch and had 2 3/4 lengths to spare over favored MGISW Clairiere (Curlin), last seen just...

7th-Oaklawn, $103,000, Alw (NW2L)/Opt. Clm ($100,000), 3-9, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:45.38, sy, 1 1/2 lengths. MENDELSSOHNS MARCH (c, 3, Mendelssohn--Unappeased {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) led the whole way when debuted over a mile on the grass at the Fair Grounds Feb. 2 just to be nailed on the line by a drifting rival and awarded the win via a steward's decision. A distant 8-1 behind heavily favored Heroic Move (Quality Road), the Triple Crown-nominated colt raced in the second flight along the rail, taking kickback on the dirt for the...

Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort and the Arkansas H.B.P.A. will honor Thoroughbred owners with a $400 per horse cash reward, regardless of where their horse finishes in a race, beginning Mar. 18 through the end of the racing season, May 6, 2023. Stakes races are excluded from Owner's Reward program. Owners of runners competing in allowance races will be eligible as long as seven or more horses arrive in the paddock. Owners of horses competing in all other races will be eligible as long as eight or more horses arrive in...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. California Track: Santa Anita Date: 02/10/2023 Licensee: Lorenzo Ruiz, trainer Penalty:...

A millionaire on the racetrack, but even more popular as trainer Steve Hobby's longtime stable pony, Chindi (El Prado {Ire}) was euthanized Thursday. The snow-white gelding was 29. Hobby said Chindi's physical condition had deteriorated for several weeks, adding he believes it was because of a neurological disorder triggered by his advanced age, rare to reach for a Thoroughbred racehorse. "When he got bad, he went fast," Hobby said on the trainer's stand Friday morning. "I noticed little things riding him, like he kept bearing left and I had to...

Another Oaklawn meet is underway and with the Arkansas track offering the highest purse structure in the country during the winter months, expectations are that it will be another banner season in Hot Springs. To discuss the Oaklawn season, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland called upon track president Louis Cella to explain why Oaklawn has become such a phenomenon. Cella was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. "It's because we don't charge $12 for a beer," Cella said when asked how Oaklawn continues to draw...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. California Track: Los Alamitos Date: 12/11/2022 Licensee: Francisco Orduna-Rojas, jockey Penalty:...

In this new TDN column, Christie DeBernardis will tell the stories of accomplished and/or popular former racehorses who are now enjoying second careers as show horses, track ponies, etc. Champion sprinter Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) and Laura Moquett's relationship goes back to when he was just a 2-year-old who refused to go around the racetrack without some coaxing. Fast forward seven years and that cantankerous juvenile is now an Eclipse winner and Breeders' Cup winner and has been retired from racing as Moquett's personal riding horse. On Thursday, less than 13...

In the 1980s the horse racing game was filled with white bridles and D. Wayne Lukas winning just about every weekend stakes race from coast to coast. The slogan which handicappers used was "D. Wayne off the plane," referring to his ability to ship horses to different tracks and pick up stakes wins. Several of Lukas's fillies included Landaluce, Terlingua, Lady's Secret, Life's Magic, Family Style, Lucky Lucky Lucky, Miss Huntington and the list goes on. When I think back of my first years working at the track, two fillies...

After the focus on points races for Derby and Oaks contenders taking up headlines over recent weekends, the distaff division gets a match up worthy of the front page as 2021 Eclipse champions Letruska (Super Saver) and Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) meet for the first time in Oaklawn's GI Apple Blossom H. Both are previous winners of the Hot Springs signature race, as the Fausto Gutierrez-trained Letruksa won the Apple Blossom in 2021 and the Mike McCarthy-conditioned Ce Ce took the 2020 edition. The two have otherwise taken divergent paths,...

Champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) returned as good ever, taking the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. in gate-to-wire fashion Saturday at Oaklawn. Receiving first-time Lasix for this seasonal bow, the 1-2 chalk took up his preferred position at the head of affairs, zipping out to a clear lead. He was quickly joined by 28-1 shot Empire of Gold (Goldencents), who pressed the Eclipse winner through a sharp first quarter in :21.61. Jackie's Warrior tugged a bit clear of the longshot through a :44.51 half-mile and turned for home in front....