HOT SPRINGS -- The winner's owner, trainer, and jockey said they got exactly what they expected. They will surely hope for something at least similar in his next start.
Dwight Pruett's Gray Attempt, the 8-5 favorite by Graydar, led from the start under jockey Jon Court to win the $125,000 6-furlong Gazebo Stakes by 31/4 lengths over David McCarty's Hidden Ruler in 1:09.72 before an estimated crowd of 19,000 at Oaklawn Park on Saturday.
"He did everything we thought he could do today and a little more," Gray Attempt's trainer Jinks Fires said.
Hidden Ruler, a son of Gemologist trained by Dallas Stewart, was ridden by David Cohen to finish a nose in front of Six Shooter, by Trappe Shot, in third. Nitrous was a half-length further back in fourth.
Gray Attempt led by a length through the first quarter mile in 22.63 and the half in 45.94. He led by 3 lengths over Six Shooter as he turned for home with 3/16ths of a mile left.
"He relaxed, and I felt like he was ready," Court said. "I know he has some strong early speed, but we needed something to finish with. I was happy with the way he finished."
"At the end of the day, we were in a tough spot, but it was a good opportunity for Hidden Ruler to show what he was made of," Cohen said. "I think he proved today that he's a solid horse."
Six Shooter's jockey Stewart Elliott said he knew Gray Attempt would be hard to pass.
"He wasn't catchable," Elliott said. "I figured he was the horse to beat, and he was just too much today."
Gray Attempt began the Oaklawn season as a Kentucky Derby hopeful with an opening-day win in the Smarty Jones Stakes on Jan. 25, but he was injured in a collision late in the first turn of the Southwest Stakes, faded to finish last of nine, and missed the next two weeks of training, enough to keep him out of last Saturday's Grade II Rebel Stakes.
With 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points from the Smarty Jones, and none from the following Southwest and Rebel, Gray Attempt's last chance to make the Derby field will come from the Grade I 11/8-mile Arkansas Derby scheduled for April 13. The Arkansas Derby offers 50 points to the winner, 40 to second, 20 to third, and 10 to fourth, so Gray Attempt will most likely need at least a third-place finish to qualify the Kentucky Derby's maximum field of 20.
Consequently, Gray Attempt, under Court, started the Gazebo as a prep for the Arkansas Derby. The result pleased all connected.
"I was just hoping we didn't lose as much training after the Southwest that he might come up a little empty on us," Fires said. "He didn't."
"Most times going into these races, you never know what's going to happen, and I didn't in this one, but I really felt confident we'd win wire-to-wire," Pruett said. "I honestly did."
The decision to enter Gray Attempt in the Gazebo field was similar to a move made by Afleet Alex's connections in the colt's ascent to racing stardom in 2005.
When Afleet Alex arrived at Oaklawn for the 2005 season, trainer Tim Ritchey decided to bring him back from a four-month layoff with a 6-furlong race far removed from the typical Derby trail, in that case Oaklawn's Mountain Valley Stakes, two weeks before the Rebel Stakes.
Afleet Alex won the Mountain Valley in 1:09.52. An illness limited him to sixth-place in the Rebel, but four weeks later, he won the Arkansas Derby and would go on to finish third in the Kentucky Derby. Over the next five weeks, he finished his career with wins in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
Afleet Alex had won one and finished second in two other Grade I races as a two-year-old. Whereas his credentials lack by comparison, Gray Attempt won the 6-furlong Sugar Bowl Stakes at Fair Grounds on Dec. 22 to complete his 2-year-old campaign 33 days before his Smarty Jones win.
"I'm hoping he'll go a mile and an eighth," Fires said. "I hope he'll go a mile and a quarter [the length of the Kentucky Derby], but who knows? Time will tell, but you always have more confidence after wins like this one."
Sports on 03/24/2019