DAY 20 of 57
ATTENDANCE 3,750
TOTAL HANDLE $2,453,319
ON-TRACK HANDLE $345,092
SUNDAY'S PICK-5 PAYOUT $28,460.25
THURSDAY'S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Gulfstream Park, 11:35 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Aqueduct, 11:50 a.m.; Fair Grounds, 1:25 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:45 p.m.; Santa Anita, 3 p.m.; Penn National, 5 p.m.; Turfway Park, 5:15 p.m.; Delta Downs, 5:40 p.m.; Charles Town, 6 p.m.
SUNDAY'S STARS
Alex Canchari won two races, giving him 10 victories in 79 starts on the season, good for sixth place in the jockey standings. Canchari rode Premonition Creek ($6.60) to a 3-length victory in the second race, a $15,000 maiden-claiming race for Arkansas breds at 6 furlongs. Canchari rode Incoming ($26) to victory in the fourth race, a $7,500 claiming race at 6 furlongs.
CHANEL'S LEGACY TO HONEYBEE
Chanel's Legacy, the winner of Saturday's Martha Washington Stakes, will be pointed for the Grade III $200,000 Honeybee Stakes on March 11, trainer Lynn Chleboard said Sunday morning. Chanel's Legacy ($28.20) won her second stakes race of the meet when she beat My Sweet Stella by 2½ lengths, covering 1 mile in 1:38.51. Chanel's Legacy, ridden by Alex Birzer was coming off a victory over My Sweet Stella in the 6-furlong Dixie Belle, but the Martha Washington was her first victory around two turns. Chanel's Legacy had run fourth in two previous 1-mile races -- the $400,000 Delta Princess Stakes on Nov. 19 at Delta Downs and the $100,000 Trapeze Stakes on Dec. 11 at Remington Park. Chleboard said her confidence was boosted by the filly's sharp 4-furlong work (48.0) on Feb. 4. "The breeze took nothing out of her," Chleboard said. "Two days later, she was jumping in the stall and we had to take her to the track because she's got a big motor." Saturday's victory was the fourth in seven lifetime starts for Chanel's Legacy and raised her earnings to $234,394. She earned 10 points toward starting eligibility for the $1 million Kentucky Oaks on May 5 at Churchill Downs. The 1 1/16-mile Honeybee is the final major local prep for the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes on April 14.
CLOSER TO 3,000
Alex Birzer rode two winners Saturday to move closer to becoming the 174th jockey to reach 3,000 North American victories, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. Birzer has 2,995 victories after winning the third race aboard Tap the Admiral ($8.80) for trainer Jon Arnett and the Martha Washington Stakes.. "It's within sight," Birzer said Sunday morning. "It's like being at the top of the lane and looking at the wire." The Martha Washington was the 293rd career Oaklawn victory for Birzer, 43. He is Oaklawn's fifth-leading jockey with 12 victories through the first 20 days of racing. "We've had a great meet," Birzer said. "Lynn's filly has really stepped up to the plate. We're really proud of her. She's running big right now." Birzer was winless in seven mounts on Sunday. Birzer lives in Council Grove, Kan., about 140 miles southwest of Kansas City. The jockey said he hopes his family (Birzer has a wife and three children) can witness his milestone victory in person. "It would be nice if the family was here," Birzer said. "But they've got school. That comes first."
FINAL FURLONG
Trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel said Sunday morning that Rowdy the Warrior was "likely" for the $500,000 Southwest Stakes on Feb. 20. Rowdy the Warrior is coming off a third-place finish in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 16. Other locally based 3-year-olds pointing for the 1 1/16-mile Southwest include Uncontested, Petrov and Warrior's Club, 1-2-4, respectively, in the Smarty Jones, Lookin At Lee, Chief Know It All, Silver Dust and Hence are other probables. ... Von Hemel said Ready to Confess will run in Saturday's $150,000 Bayakoa Stakes for older fillies and mares. Ready to Confess finished second in the $125,000 Pippin Stakes Jan. 14. ... Von Hemel said Sunday morning that's undecided about the next start for Suddenbreakingnews, but the 4-year-old gelding remains under consideration for the $500,000 Razorback Handicap. Suddenbreakingnews won the Southwest Stakes last year at Oaklawn but is winless since, the highlight being a fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. ... Gun Runner (Razorback) and Lookin At Lee (Southwest) schooled in the paddock before Saturday's fifth race for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. ... Favored Mo for the Money ($3.80) became Asmussen's first winner for Alex and JoAnn Lieblong of Conway, Ark., in Saturday's fifth race. Asmussen, a seven-time Oaklawn champion, began training for the couple last summer. Alex Lieblong, who has campaigned Grade 1 winners Telling, The Big Beast and Embellish the Lace, is chairman of the Arkansas Racing Commission. Mo for the Money was claimed out of Saturday's victory for $25,000 by 2015 Oaklawn training champion Chris Hartman.
Information for this article contributed by the Oaklawn media department.
Sports on 02/13/2017