Count Fleet Sprint Handicap

Mitole fleetest of Oaklawn's star sprinters

HOT SPRINGS -- While not discounting the chances for any of the other three horses in the field, Ron Moquett said Thursday he expected something similar to a match race between Whitmore and Mitole.

Moquett, Whitmore's trainer, pegged it.

William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Mitole led from just past the gate, but Whitmore was full of fight throughout. As the pair turned for home and approached the final furlong of the Grade III, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap for horses 3 years old and up at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, Mitole gradually pulled away to win the 6-furlong race by 2¾ lengths in 1:09.36 over Whitmore.

"Whitmore's as good as it gets," Mitole trainer Steve Asmussen said. "What two quality Oaklawn products we have here in Mitole and Whitmore that all of Oaklawn should be proud of."

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. has ridden Mitole in his past seven starts. He also had ridden Whitmore in his previous nine starts -- including wins in the 2017 and 2018 Count Fleet -- but he chose Mitole in horses' first showdown in the same race.

Moquett replaced Santana with visiting rider Luis Saez, who timed Whitmore's start from the fourth gate perfectly. Mitole was a nose back through the first several splashing strides before he took the lead 50 yards from the gate.

"We broke good," Saez said. "I put him right there, and I thought we had it. Mitole was the only speed horse, and I thought we needed to be there with him."

Mitole was a half-length in front through an opening quarter mile in 22.49. Whitmore was in second, 2 lengths ahead of Storm Advisory in third.

Mitole's lead was trimmed to a head through a half-mile in 45.54, and as they turned into the stretch, it looked as if the two would fight for the lead through the finish.

With 3/16ths of a mile left to race, Whitmore was in second, 4 lengths clear of third-place Bourbon Cowboy, who would hold onto third.

Whitmore moved to the center of the track under heavy rainfall and appeared ready to pass, but Mitole dug in to hold his lead and pull away.

"I thought we had it," Saez said. "When we broke, I thought, 'Man, we got too much horse,' but then when we turned into the home stretch, I started asking him, and he just flattened out."

"Today was their day," Moquett said. "The short field, lone speed, that's not Whitmore's deal, but I'm proud of my horse."

Mitole, a son of Eskendereya and maternal grandson of Indian Charlie, was Oaklawn's top 3-year-old sprinter last year. He won the $150,000, 6-furlong Bachelor Stakes during the 2018 Racing Festival of the South in 1:08.41. He also won the $200,000, 6-furlong Chick Lang Stakes at Pimlico in Baltimore on a sloppy track on May 19, but Mitole did not race again until this season at Oaklawn.

"Mitole handles the off-track extremely well," Asmussen said. "He won in the Chick Lang under extremely similar conditions."

In his return start, Mitole sprinted past a field of optional claimers over 6 furlongs at Oaklawn in 1:08.99 on March 2.

Robert LePenta's Whitmore, a 6-year-old son of Pleasantly Perfect, had won six consecutive sprint starts at Oaklawn. He won his third consecutive $150,000, 6-furlong Hot Springs Stakes on March 9.

"I was expecting this kind of race," Asmussen said. "I thought Whitmore looked great in the paddock. You knew you were in for it. He's a tremendous animal."

Sports on 04/14/2019

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