DAY 5 of 57
ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 8,750
ON-TRACK HANDLE $717,752
OFF-TRACK HANDLE $2,772,831
TOTAL HANDLE $3,490,583
TODAY'S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Gulfstream Park, 11 a.m.; Aqueduct, 11:20 a.m.; Laurel Park, 11:30 a.m.; Fair Grounds, 1 p.m.; Santa Anita, 2:30 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:45 p.m.
SATURDAY'S STARS
Last year's duo of Ricardo Santana and Steve Asmussen, who won the jockey and trainer titles during the 2017 season at Oaklawn Park, teamed up to win the second and fifth races of the day. Santana, who was racing his first full day of the season after serving a suspension for the first three days of the meet, won with Luv Bandit in the second race ($4.80), winning by 1 length over Get That Box. Santana won the fifth race with Bee Jersey ($7.80), winning the 1-mile race by 6 lengths over Chris and Dave.
Gary Stevens, David Cabrera and C.J. McMahon also won races to create a five-way tie at the top of the jockey standings at four victories with David Cohen and Jon Court.
MASON ON THE MOVE
Ingrid Mason accumulated four victories in her first 10 starts through Monday, saddling one winner in each of the first four days of the meet.
"You know, it's all luck," Mason said with a laugh. "It's just finding the right races for your horses and horses liking the track, that sort of thing. We all try to do the same thing every year."
Among the most successful female trainers in Oaklawn history, Mason has 75 career victories in Hot Springs since 2010, when she compiled a 9-1-2 mark from 21 starts.
Mason saddled Sarah Sis to win the $150,000 Honeybee Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in 2015 and Marquee Miss to win the $100,000 Dixie Belle Stakes and $100,000 Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in 2016.
Mason said plans are pending for Marquee Miss after a fifth-place finish in an allowance/optional claiming sprint in her 5-year-old debut Jan. 12.
Rapid Dial, who won his first two career starts at the 2017 Oaklawn meet, is a "few works away" from making his 4-year-old debut, Mason said. He suffered his first career loss in the $250,000 Pat Day Mile last May at Churchill Downs and is unraced since a fourth-place finish in a second-level allowance/optional claiming sprint July 8 at Arlington Park.
"He bled a little bit and we just gave him a break," Mason said.
Rapid Dial has five published workouts at Oaklawn since Dec. 17 and is pointing toward an allowance sprint, said Mason, who has 30 horses on the grounds.
FINAL FURLONG
The track reopened for training at 7 a.m. Saturday after being closed the previous four days because of cold temperatures. ... Today's fifth race, a second-level allowance sprint for Arkansas-bred fillies and mares, is a prep for the $100,000 Downthedustyroad Breeders' Stakes on Feb. 24. The field includes two-time Downthedustyroad champion Easter Indy; Ministry, winner of the $100,000 Rainbow Miss Stakes last year at Oaklawn; and 5-2 program favorite Dutch Parrot, who hasn't started since finishing fifth in the $200,000 Indiana Oaks on July 15 at Indiana Grand. The Downthedustyroad is a 6-furlong race restricted to Arkansas-bred fillies and mares. ... Pryor, winless in two career starts, is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in Sunday's seventh race. Owner Alex Lieblong, chairman of the Arkansas Racing Commission, named the Paynter colt after the late comedian Richard Pryor. The dam of Pryor is Awesome Humor. Pryor's trainer, Ron Moquett of Hot Springs, has 199 career victories at Oaklawn. ... Eternal Bling, a 3-year-old full sister to multiple stakes winner Texas Bling, is scheduled to make her career debut in today's ninth race for trainer Danele Durham, who also campaigned Texas Bling. Durham said the dam of both horses, Anythingmore, "hemorrhaged" giving birth to Eternal Bling and died, adding "she received a nurse mare immediately and had a normal upbringing."
Information for this report was contributed by Oaklawn media department.
Sports on 01/21/2018