Like It Is

Fletcher's dream horse starts in California

It was next to impossible Saturday to think about a pending ice storm that might wipe out Monday's racing card at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.

The temperatures were spring-like.

If it had been a couple of degrees warmer, you might have thought you were enjoing a day at Santa Anita in sunny southern California.

In fact, local businessman Frank Fletcher, and his wife Judy, had a horse, Wolfman Rocket, running in the second at Santa Anita, and of course Rocket Time in the $100,000 Essex for 4-year-olds and up at Oaklawn.

Wolfman Rocket ran second, as expected, in a 6-furlong maiden race for trainer Bob Baffert in California. Baffert's second entrant in the race, Power Jam, took the winner's share of the $56,000 purse. It was a tune-up race for Wolfman Rocket.

No doubt Fletcher will be watching closely when the two horses meet up going two turns. Wolfman Rocket, a 3-year-old sired by Mineshaft, is bred to go a route, and there is absolutely nothing that Fletcher wants more than to have a horse win the Arkansas Derby.

Forget the Kentucky Derby, the Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup, Fletcher is an Arkie-bred, a country boy made good through hard work, ingenuity and more hard work.

The die-hard fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks -- he's a UA graduate -- set his goal when he got into horse racing to win the most prestigious race in his home state and he's never wavered.

So Judy, they were high school sweethearts (hey, Saturday was Valentine's Day, and it is one of those nice stories about the cute cheerleader being chased by the basketball star in high school), and all the family were at Oaklawn with Frank focused on the Essex, especially after business went as expected at Santa Anita.

There was a time when Santa Anita was the homeland of the world's greatest thoroughbreds, and while it still has great racing, Oaklawn Park is right there with it.

Santa Anita had three races with purses of $16,000. Oaklawn's lowest purse Saturday was $19,000 and that was just one and for maidens.

Santa Anita had two races with purses of $56,000. Oaklawn had three $60,000-plus races, not counting the Essex, and two of those were for maidens.

The only upside to Santa Anita is that it isn't looking at cancelling Monday's card, which includes the Southwest Stakes, a race with points that help 3-year-olds get into the Kentucky Derby.

Saturday, it was difficult to imagine ice and snow headed anywhere close to Arkansas. It was a brilliant day for just about any outdoor activity, including horse racing, so a good crowd -- estimasted at 24,000 by Oaklawn -- was on hand for the running of the Essex.

It was a clean start for the eight horses and Rocket Time, ridden by Calvin Borel, who made his reputation winning on the rail, went to the lead as expected and on the rail as expected.

I Got It All and Golden Lad gave chase and kept the fractions honest.

Rocket Time led until the horses reached the head of the stretch, and that's when the early challengers bore down on the leader and passed him; suddenly, though, Ride On Curlin, the heavy favorite, was in the picture running fourth.

There was a reason he was favored: He finished second in the Arkansas Derby last year as well as the Preakness. But on this beautiful day, he was not going to catch Golden Lad, winner of last year's Razorback Handicap.

Ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., who is well on his way to a third consecutive Oaklawn jockey title, Golden Lad beat Ride On Curlin easier than anyone could have expected, and he did it in 1:44.05.

It was a disappointment for the Fletcher family, but not too much because there is a lot of California dreaming going on at Fletcher Racing as the 3-year-old campaign heats up, with the Arkansas Derby nine weeks away.

Sports on 02/15/2015

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