DAY 38 of 57
ESTIMATEDATTENDANCE 5,000
ON-TRACK HANDLE $386,864
TOTAL HANDLE $2,724,659
PICK-5 PAYOUT $789.60
TODAY'S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE
Gulfstream Park, 11:35 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Laurel Park, 12:10 p.m.; Aqueduct, 12:20 p.m.; Fair Grounds, 1:25 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:45 p.m.; Santa Anita, 3 p.m.; Hawthorne, 4:10 p.m.; Penn National, 5 p.m.; Turfway Park, 5:15 p.m.; Charles Town, 6 p.m.; Palm Beach (greyhounds), 6 p.m.; Daytona Beach (greyhounds), 6:25 p.m.; Southland (greyhounds), 8:30 p.m.; Los Alamitos, 9 p.m.
THURSDAY'S STARS
Ramon Vazquez took over the lead in the jockey standings with victories in the first and ninth races. Vazquez, who has 33 victories in 200 starts, leads Geovanni Franco (32 victories in 157 starts) by 1. Vazquez rode Point At Z Baby ($8.80) to victory in the first race. In the ninth race, he rode Recapitulation ($11.60). ... Declan Cannon (14 victories in 99 starts), who is tied for eighth with Channing Hill (14 victories in 95 starts), rode Son of Pearl ($7.60) to victory in the the third race and First Heritage ($48.20) in the sixth race. Among trainers, Karl Broberg won the third race with Son of Pearl and the fourth race with Distinctly Mine ($7.20). Broberg has won 6 of 44 starts.
REBEL UPDATE
Trainer Bob Baffert won't be at Oaklawn to see American Anthem run in the Rebel Stakes. Baffert will be heading to Dubai for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 25 where 2014 Rebel Stakes winner Hoppertunity and multiple Grade I winner Arrogate are racing. Baffert is optimistic that American Anthem, with Mike Smith aboard, will run well.
"Mike was really impressed with his toughness last time when he ran against Gormley," said Baffert, who engaged Smith to ride both American Anthem in the Rebel and Mor Spirit in the Essex. "He had every reason to give in. We know he'll fight. He's got a big heart."
Trainer Steve Asmussen has Lookin At Lee and Untrapped as he looks to add a fourth Rebel Stakes championship.
Untrapped owner Mike Langford of Jonesboro, said, "I look for us to run really big," he said. "He looks great and he's been training really forwardly and is doing real good. After looking at the PPs (past performances), I feel even better. When you look at them and see names like Bob Baffert (American Anthem) and Todd Pletcher (Malagacy) coming in, and obviously they've got the top horses, it gets your attention. But those horses have a lot to prove also. So I feel real good. Our horse has grown and matured."
Lookin at Lee worked a half mile in 50 seconds and walked around the barn Thursday morning.
Malagacy, trained by Todd Pletcher, galloped 1 1/8 miles under assistant Adele Bellinger and stood in the gate Thursday morning. Malagacy is owned by Ossama Aboughazzales, who owns the first reported foal by American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown winner.
Royal Mo, a son of champion Uncle Mo, is trained by John Shirreffs, who is starting his first horse at Oaklawn since Stanwyck ran third in the Apple Blossom in 2014. Royal Mo has never raced outside California and has won his last two starts in front-running fashion, including the $150,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 4 at Santa Anita.
Smarty Jones winner Uncontested galloped 1¼ miles under exercise rider Antonio Ramos Thursday morning for trainer Wayne Catalano. Uncontested faded to sixth as the favorite in the $500,000 Southwest Stakes on Feb. 20.
Information for this report contributed by Oaklawn media department
Sports on 03/17/2017