DAY 12 of 57
THURSDAY'S ATTENDANCE 2,900
THURSDAY'S ON-TRACK HANDLE $209,538
THURSDAY'S OFF-TRACK HANDLE $2,687,480
THURSDAY'S TOTAL HANDLE $2,897,018
TODAY'S POST TIME 1:30 p.m.
ADMISSION Free for general admission; reserved seats $4.50
PARKING $2 until 4 p.m.
TODAY'S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Aqueduct, 11:20 a.m.; Laurel Park, 11:25 a.m.; Gulfstream Park, 11:35 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Fair Grounds, 12:30 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:45 p.m.; Santa Anita, 3 p.m.; Penn National, 5 p.m.; Turfway Park, 5:15 p.m.; Charles Town, 6 p.m.; Delta Downs, 6:15 p.m.; Daytona Beach (greyhounds), 6:25 p.m.; Derby Lane (greyhounds), 6:30 p.m.; Sam Houston, 6:45 p.m.
THURSDAY'S STAR
Trainer Robertino Diodoro won two races Thursday to increase his lead over Steve Asmussen in the trainer standings.
Diodoro earned victories in the fifth race with Candy Store ($5.60, $3.20, $2.40), who covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.95 with Orlando Mojica aboard, and in the ninth race with Roaring Rule ($8.80, $4.40, $2.60), guided by David Cohen and covering six furlongs in 1:12.11.
Diodoro now has 19 victories in 48 starts for the meeting, which puts him 10 victories ahead of Asmussen in the trainer standings. Brad Cox is third with seven victories.
Cohen, Mojica and Ricardo Santana, Jr. all had single victories Thursday, so they remain the top three in the jockey standings through Thursday's races. Cohen has 13 victories in 56 mounts, which is one victory ahead of Santana and two ahead of Mojica.
UNEXPECTED WINNERS
The latter stages of Thursday's card provided some decent payouts from horses coming in with longer odds.
Bullion won the seventh race with Joseph Rocco, Jr. aboard at 12-1 odds, but still paid $26.80, $10.40 and $8.60 after covering 6 furlongs in 1:11.91. Ricardo Santana, Jr. rode Fayette Warrior to victory in the sixth race at 7-1 odds, which paid $15.60, $5.60 and $4.60. The biggest long shot winner was Joy in the Journey in the eighth race at 27-1 odds, which paid $55.40, $24.80 and $15.40 after Fernando De La Cruz guided the horse over 6 furlongs in 1:12.94.
CALIFORNIA DREAMING
Three horses for Southern California-based trainer Richard Baltas -- Motion Emotion, Taishan and Proverb -- are at Oaklawn after being flown to Arkansas on Wednesday.
Assistant trainer Aimee Dollase said Taishan is slated for Monday's Grade III Southwest Stakes and Motion Emotion will run in the Grade III Bayakoa Stakes for older fillies and mares. Motion Emotion was among Oaklawn's leading 3-year-olds last year, finishing second in the Grade III Honeybee Stakes and the Grade III Fantasy Stakes. Proverb broke his maiden at Oaklawn last year before finishing third in the inaugural Oaklawn Invitational.
Finish Lines
Six-time Oaklawn riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr. enters today's races with 497 career victories in Hot Springs, according to Equibase. ... Don Von Hemel, 85, had his first winner of the meet in Sunday's fourth race with Captain Don for owner Dash Goff of Fayetteville. Von Hemel was Oaklawn's leading trainer in 1981. Goff's late father, Gene Goff, campaigned two-time champion older horse Nodouble, the leading Arkansas-bred money winner in history. ... Four-time Oaklawn training champion David Vance had his first winner of the meet in Sunday's sixth race with Kiss More ($66). It was the 665th documented Oaklawn winner for Vance, who topped the local standings in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1976.
Information for this report was provided by Oaklawn media department
Sports on 02/14/2020