There was a time the four-letter word would have sent Oaklawn Park officials into a sadness nearing depression.
Rain.
The last thing they wanted on the final day of the race meet was rain, and while they aren't exactly welcoming it with open arms Saturday -- and the forecast is for the wet four-letter word -- Saturday is not get-away day.
"Stay until May" has been Oaklawn's slogan this season because Louis Cella and his staff decided too many days were being lost to cold weather in January and backed the season up three weeks.
Now it ends on Kentucky Derby day instead of Arkansas Derby day, which is Saturday come rain, sleet or gloom of night.
There are plenty of places in the dry to partake in Arkansas Derby day, which has become as much of a social outing as a sporting one with ladies wearing pretty hats and men staring at the pretty hats.
If you want to wager on the card and can't get to the track, oaklawnanywhere.com is the answer.
This year's Derby attracted a really good field of 11 horses, most which are owned by folks with Kentucky Derby fever, and they need some of the Derby points that are on the line.
Predictions are it will take a record number of points to make it to the first Saturday in May and get that reserved seat on a day when seats bring an outrageous premium.
If you are not the handicapping type, there is a gray horse aptly named Gray Attempt, who is a front-running beast, locally owned (Dwight Pruett, Texarkana) and will be ridden by Stew Elliott, the jockey who rode Smarty Jones to wins in two-thirds of the Triple Crown in 2004.
For religious folks, there is Galilean, a well-bred power horse who has won three of five races and will pay a pretty penny if he makes it to the winner's circle.
For snowbirders, there is One Flew South, a lightly raced shipper who has Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel in the saddle.
Northerners might like Jersey Agenda, who has been at Oaklawn all season and is improving.
Military veterans might take a shot with Omaha Beach, who impressively won a leg of the Rebel Stakes. He's trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella and ridden by Mike Smith, also in the Hall of Fame. He'll be one of the favorites.
Handicappers, though, will love this race as they try to separate the top four picks: Improbable, Omaha Beach, Long Range Toddy and Gray Attempt.
Improbable is the annual shipper who is regally bred, Bob Baffert-trained (he's not expected to be there again this year) and owned by the premier owners Winstar and China Horse Company.
He is the morning-line-favorite at 8-5 and seemed to have his leg of the Rebel won when Jon Court kicked Long Range Toddy into another gear and beat him by a neck. Long Range Toddy is a local horse who has been in the money at Oaklawn in all three of his races.
Omaha Beach will either challenge Gray Attempt for the lead or stay behind him, off to the side if he's smart and doesn't want mud kicked in his face. Omaha Beach has the breeding and connections to warrant being second favorite.
Two longshots to watch are Laughing Fox, who has only two wins in his career, both at Oaklawn. He's a closer who got behind traffic in the Rebel, but he's trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Ricardo Santana, and they are a tough team to beat.
Jersey Agenda, also trained by Asmussen, has three horses entered. Jersey Agenda broke his maiden on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs.
It is a good field and it will be a great day of racing, even with rain.
Sports on 04/12/2019