DAY 29 of 57
ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 5,000
ON-TRACK HANDLE $365,883
TOTAL HANDLE $2,879,586
PICK-5 PAYOUT $2,750.90
THURSDAY'S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Gulfstream Park, 11;35 a.m.; Aqueduct, 12:20 p.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.;
BIRZER WINS 3,000
Alex Birzer became the 174th North American jockey to win 3,000 races when he guided Numancia to victory in Sunday's sixth race at Oaklawn. Birzer, 43, rode three winners on Saturday's card to move within one of the milestone, which came with fifth mount of the day.
Birzer's victory Sunday was his 17th victory of the season in 136 starts, good for fifth in the jockey standings.
In a jockey colony overflowing with successful veteran jockeys, Birzer still ranks behind Calvin Borel (5,162), Jon Court (4,011), Christopher Emigh (3,736), Luis Quinonez (3,631), Glenn Corbett (3,594) and Terry Thompson (3,207) in the victory column. Another Oaklawn rider, Carlos Marquez, Jr., is at 2,907.
"I'm speechless," Birzer said. "It looked like it might set up this way last fall and I had it in my mind that it would be great to reach this here. I just love Oaklawn. I love the people here. The patrons are just unreal with the way they treat us. It's a great racing atmosphere."
Birzer has two stakes victories at the meeting, both on 3-year-old filly Chanel's Legacy, who has won the $125,000 Dixie Belle and $125,000 Martha Washington Stakes for trainer Lynn Chleborad.
FINAL FURLONG
Two leading candidates for the $125,000 Hot Springs Stakes for older sprinters March 11 recorded fastest of the morning workouts at 4 and 5 furlongs within minutes of each after the track opened for training Sunday morning. Multiple stakes winner Ivan Fallunovalot, under Hall of Famer and regular rider Calvin Borel, worked a half-mile in :46.20 for trainer Tom Howard of Hot Springs. Clockers caught Ivan Fallunovalot's final quarter-mile in :22.20 and galloping out 5 furlongs in a sizzling :58.60. Howard said the work was the gelding's final major move in advance of the 6-furlong Hot Springs. Ivan Fallunovalot, in his 7-year-old debut, finished fourth in the $125,000 King Cotton Stakes Feb. 4. He had won six of his previous seven starts, including the King Cotton for a second consecutive year in January 2016. Also Sunday, Whitmore worked 5 furlongs in :59.60 under Greta Kuntzweiler. Whitmore, who breezed with a stablemate, covered his final quarter-mile in :23.40, according to clockers. "With him, you've got to keep somebody there to keep his attention," co-owner/trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs said. "We made sure that we had somebody that could get out what we wanted to get out of him because the next breeze is going to be an easier one." Whitmore has never lost in four career sprint starts, including a third-level allowance/optional claiming score Jan. 15. The gelding ran 6 furlongs in 1:08.81, the fastest time ever for the distance during January at Oaklawn. The Hot Springs will be his stakes debut sprinting. Whitmore was one of Oaklawn's leading Kentucky Derby candidates last year, finishing second in the $500,000 Southwest Stakes and $900,000 Rebel Stakes and third in the $1 million Arkansas Derby. Other locally based horses pointing for the 6-furlong Hot Springs include Storm Advisory and Recount, 1-2, respectively, in the King Cotton. Nominations to the Hot Springs close Friday.
Information for this report was contributed by Oaklawn media department
Sports on 02/27/2017