DAY 15 of 56
SUNDAY’S ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 2,750
ON-TRACK WAGERING $288,995
TOTAL HANDLE $2,086,175
CLASSIX CARRYOVER $4,055
WAGERING MENU Win-place-show ($2 minimum), exacta ($1 minimum), trifecta ($0.50 minimum), and superfecta ($0.10 minimum) wagering on all races. $1 daily double on the first two races and the eighth and ninth races. $1 CLASSIX (races three through eight). $0.50 Pick-3 (rolling begins with race 2), $0.50 Pick 4 (races 2-5, 6-9).
THURSDAY’S SIMULCAST MENU 11:35 a.m. Gulfstream Park, 11:50 a.m. Aqueduct, 1:25 p.m. Fair Grounds, 2:45 p.m. Golden Gate, 3 p.m. Santa Anita, 5 p.m. Penn National, 5:15 p.m. Turfway Park, 5:40 p.m. Delta Downs, 6 p.m. Charles Town
IT WAS A GOOD DAY FOR …
Short-priced favorites and long-shot winners. Heavily favored Bobby V. ($4) in the second, Racer ($4.80) in the fifth; and Greek Week ($4.80) in the ninth rewarded their backers, but no other winner paid less than $17.20. The parade of long shots was led by Quittin Time ($71.60) in the sixth. There was also three $30 winners: Hoosessential ($38.60) in the first; Cheray ($32.40) in the fourth; and Cross Country, who survived a foul claim and steward’s inquiry to pay $35.80 in the seventh.
BREAKING THROUGH
Trainers Dennis Hughes, Doug Anderson, Jeffery Lynn and Anthont Dutrow each won their first races of the meet. Through 15 days and 135 races, 62 different trainers have won at least one race. James Bielby became the 32nd different jockey to win a race at the meet when he rode Hoosessential to victory in the first.
RON IN RUNNING
A training double Saturday extended Ron Moquett’s lead in the Oaklawn standings to three over a cluster of trainers. But, Moquett said Sunday it was still a long race, and one he doesn’t expect to win. “It would surprise me,” Moquett, 44, said. “There’s a lot more people with a lot more ammunition. All I want to do is win races and make money so my owners don’t yell at me.” Through the first 15 days of the meet, Moquett has saddled nine winners from 43 starts. Last year, he finished sixth in the Oaklawn standings with 13 victories from 105 starts. Among the notable horses in Moquett’s barn: Whitmore, a Jan. 16 entry-level allowance/optional claiming sprint winner earlier in the meet, who is a candidate for the Grade III $500,000 Southwest Stakes for 3-year-olds Feb. 15; 4-year-old Far Right, who won the Smarty Jones and Southwest last year;and Gentlemen’s Bet, a stakes-winning sprinter. “It’s all about the horses,” Moquett said. “If you get good horses and take care of them, anybody can win races.”
FINAL FURLONG
Cutacorner, scheduled to run in the Grade III $500,000 Southwest Stakes Feb. 15, worked 5 furlongs in 1:02.40 after the break Sunday morning for Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg. … Jockey Jon Court is appealing his three-day riding suspension that was scheduled to begin Sunday, steward John Ferrara said. Court raced Sunday and won his 10th race of the meet aboard Racer in the fifth. … Dakota Fred won Saturday’s first race to give Van Berg, 79, his sixth victory of the meeting, equaling his highest total in Hot Springs since 1995. Van Berg, D. Wayne Lukas (3) and Don Von Hemel (1) have combined for 10 training victories at the meet. Von Hemel and Lukas are 81 and 80, respectively. … Martha Washington Stakes winner Marquee Miss will be pointed for the Grade III $150,000 Honeybee Stakes for 3-year-old fillies March 12, trainer Ingrid Mason said Sunday morning.
Information for this report contributed by Oaklawn media department.