DAY 19 of 57
ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 15,000
ON-TRACK HANDLE $1,027,104
TOTAL HANDLE $3,599,007
PICK-5 PAYOUT $11,288.55
TODAY’S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Gulfstream Park, 11 a.m.; Laurel Park, 11:30 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Aqueduct, 11:50 a.m.; Fair Grounds, 1:25 p.m.; Santa Anita, 2:30 p.m.; Golden Gates, 2:45 p.m.
SATURDAY’S STARS
Ricardo Santana, last year’s riding champion, closed the gap in the riding standings to one victory behind this year’s leading jockey Ramon Vazquez. Santana won the fifth and ninth races Saturday and now has 21 victories in 81 starts while Vazquez has 22 in 95 starts. Santana rode Mo for the Money ($2.80) to victory in the fifth race by a neck over Zip ‘n Sip. Santana rode Congrats Honey ($4.60) to a one-half length victory over Larrisa’s Love. … Other riders with multiple victories included Alex Canchari and Alex Birzer. Canchari won the second race when he rode First Adapter ($14.40) to a 1¾-length victory over McCurdy and the seventh race with Borealis Beauty ($27) to a three-quarter-length victory over Asian’s Way. … Birzer won the third race with Tap the Admiral ($8.80) and Chanel’s Legacy ($28.20) in the eighth race, the Martha Washington. Last year’s leading trainer Steve Asmussen moved into fourth place with nine victories in 49 starts when he and Santana teamed up with Mo for the Money in the fifth race and Congrats Honey in the ninth race.
HENCE TO SOUTHWEST
Hence will make his next start in the $500,000 Southwest Stakes for 3-yearolds on Feb. 20, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said Saturday morning. Hence won an eventful Jan. 16 maiden race under Ramon Vazquez, who will ride the Street Boss colt in the Southwest. Hence — Asmussen’s 500th career Oaklawn winner — stumbled at the start of the 1 1/16-mile maiden-allowance race run over a sloppy track, but was still on his way to an easy victory before ducking in sharply inside the furlong marker. He recovered to regain the lead on the inside in the final 50 yards and finished three-quarters of a length ahead Horse Fly, also owned by Calumet Farms (Brad Kelley). “He’s got a lot of talent,” Asmussen said. “Obviously, a little … the other day, but he’s trained nice here since.” Asmussen called Hence’s 5-furlong breeze in 1:02.20 Feb. 1, “a great work.” Hence also ran third to Guest Suite in an Oct. 8 maiden race at Keeneland at 1 1/16 miles. Guest Suite captured the Grade III $200,000 LeComte Stakes on Jan. 21 at Fair Grounds in his last start. “He’s caught some good company,” Asmussen said. “He’s got talent, and I think he’ll run great.” Other locally based horses pointing for the Southwest include Uncontested (Channing Hill to ride), Petrov (Jose Ortiz), Warrior’s Club, Lookin At Lee (Ricardo Santana Jr.), Silver Dust (Corey Lanerie) and Chief Know It All. Uncontested, Petrov and Warrior’s Club ran first, second and fourth, respectively, in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on Jan. 16.
FINAL FIRLONG
Unbeaten Tap of War will make her 3-year-old debut in today’s eighth race, a first-level allowance/optional claimer at a mile after scratching from Saturday’s $125,000 Martha Washington Stakes. Trainer Kelly Von Hemel said the War Front filly was entered in the 1-mile Martha Washington in case today’s race didn’t fill. “We were just kind of protecting ourselves, as far as the stakes goes, because we need to get started,” Von Hemel said. Tap of War hasn’t raced since July 23 at Prairie Meadows, when she drew off by 4½ lengths as the 3-5 favorite in the maiden-allowance sprint. Von Hemel said Tap of War had some subsequent “growing pains” and wasn’t “hitting the ground like we wanted” training, so the filly was sent to noted equine surgeon Larry Bramlage at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., where she received a clean bill of health.
Information for this report contributed by Oaklawn media department.