Tag: Arkansas Horse Racing

David Cabrera's biggest victory of the year came aboard Rated R Superstar in the Essex Handicap. The 29-year-old Cabrera survived a brutal spill to win his first Oaklawn Park riding title. Image: Coady Photography)

Cabrera Overcomes Bad Spill to Capture First Oaklawn Park Riding Title

- 2 min read

David Cabrera hadn’t ridden since going on the shelf after an April 8 riding accident, yet he hung on from the sidelines to win his first Oaklawn Park riding title by one victory over Francisco Arrieta. Not that Arrieta didn’t make Cabrera sweat it out. When Cabrera suffered head, neck, […]

Snapper Sinclair is one of three contenders in teh Cross Country Pick 5s lone stakes race this week: Belmont Park's Elusive Quality. (Image: Grace Clark/Kentucky Downs)

With One Stakes, this Cross Country Pick 5 Puts Handicappers to the Test

- 3 min read

A million-dollar gelding and one of the first stakes races on Belmont Park’s Spring/Summer Meet provide two of the storylines for this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. The weekly, multi-track, multi-race wager comes from Belmont Park and Oaklawn Park this week. While it’s light on stakes […]

Letruska won her second consecutive Grade 1 Apple Blossom, making her only the fourth filly/mare to win the race multiple times. (Image: Coady Photography)

Letruska Emerges from Apple Blossom No. 2 in Familiar Territory

- 2 min read

This Letruska script is one we’ve seen before. After all, it bears a striking resemblance to the 2021 script for the powerful, now 6-year-old mare. Win Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park. Head to Kentucky to train for the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park. Leave no mistake who […]

Rated R Superstar, seen here winning the Grade 3 Essex Stakes, is one of three millionaires in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap field. He is 5/1 on the morning line in a deep, eight-horse field. (Image: Coady Photography)

This Deep Oaklawn Handicap Provides A Handicapper’s Puzzle

- 4 min read

The numbers tell you how competitive Saturday’s Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap is from a wagering standpoint. Because this is a race where just about everyone can win. How competitive is the anchor stakes race on Oaklawn Park’s 12-race card? Six of the eight older horses in the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn […]

Azeri winner Ce Ce is the 2/1 second favorite in search of her second Apple Blossom Handicap in three years. (Image: Coady Photography)

Apple Blossom Blooms With Two Champions, Four Grade 1 Winners

- 3 min read

There are only five horses in Saturday’s Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park, a statistic that trainer Rob Atras puts into perspective for everyone. “It’s a small field, but it’s got like a Breeders’ Cup kind of feel to it,” Atras told Oaklawn Park’s Jennifer Hoyt. That’s probably the […]

Jackie's Warrior makes his first start since his sixth in last November's Breeders' Cup Sprint. He's the 6/5 favorite for the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn Park. (Image: Anne M. Eberhardt)

Champion Sprinter Jackie’s Warrior Opens His Season at Count Fleet

- 2 min read

The last time Jackie’s Warrior stepped into a starting gate, he did so as the 1/2 favorite in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar. It was supposed to be the exclamation point on a seven-figure coronation as the country’s top male sprinter. Instead, Jackie’s Warrior lost the plot. He […]

Secret Oath is bidding to be the first filly in 38 years to win the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. The D. Wayne Lukas charge is the 5/2 morning line favorite. (Image: Coady Photgraphy)

Favorite Secret Oath is No Secret Coming in to Arkansas Derby

- 4 min read

In 1984, D. Wayne Lukas decided on a whim to bring back his filly Althea for the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. That this was unconventional – even for those times of running horses far more often than happens now – can’t be understated. That’s because Althea ran the week before, […]

Cezanne rolled to a 2 2 1/2-length victory in the San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita earlier this month. He is the 5/2 favorite to win the Grade 3 Oaklawn Mile Saturday on the Arkansas Derby undercard. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Cezanne Looks to Write His Own Improbable Story

- 3 min read

While Cezanne has never traveled outside of California, he does have a role model to call upon for what kind of springboard to great seasons the Grade 3 Oaklawn Mile can present. A role model doubling as a former stablemate: Improbable. Two years ago, the Bob Baffert-trained Improbable was a […]

Plainsman (left) held off Thomas Shelby to win February's Grade 3 Razorback Handicap. Plainsman is the 3/1 favorite to win Saturday's Grade 3 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

With Cox Duo, This Essex One of Saturday’s Best Races–Anywhere

- 2 min read

Two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox is skilled at keeping his front-row charges apart from each other – a skill he abandoned for Saturday’s Grade 3 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park. Cox sends out a pair of millionaire multiple Grade 3 winners: Plainsman and Warrior’s Charge, for the 1 1/16-mile […]

Ce Ce's nose victory in the Apple Blossom two years ago was her first Grade 1 score. She is the 3/1 second choice in Saturday's Grade 2 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

Don’t Sleep on This Budding Mare Rivalry in Oaklawn’s Azeri Stakes

- 3 min read

While eyes are on Tampa Bay Downs and its Kentucky Derby prep, Oaklawn Park offers up the juicy Grade 3 Azeri Stakes, starring an Eclipse Award winner and a mare who could eventually become one. That would be reigning Eclipse Award-winning female sprinter Ce Ce, who tangles with the Azeri’s […]

Unbeaten Newgrange looks to build on his Southwest Stakes win as the 9/5 favorite in Saturday's Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

Favorite Newgrange Gives Rebel Stakes an Old-School Baffert Look

- 3 min read

When it comes to the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes, it doesn’t really matter that Bob Baffert is suspended from Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. All that matters is one question, the answer of which is typically “yes.” Does Baffert have a live candidate in this year’s Rebel? Of course […]

Happy Soul made many many folks happy with this 11 1/2-length dissection of the Astoria Stakes last June. The Wesley Ward trainee comes in as the 9/5 favorite for Saturday's Dixie Belle Stakes at Oaklawn Park. (Image; Coglianese Photo/Chelsea Durand)

Ward is Whistling Dixie With Latest Sprint Star Happy Soul

- 3 min read

You don’t usually see Wesley Ward holding court at Oaklawn Park. But the renowned trainer of younger horse carries an open secret that he hopes Happy Soul can broadcast to horseracing fans Saturday in the Listed Dixie Belle Stakes. That secret? Yes, Ward usually holds court at Keeneland or Royal […]

Newgrange and John Velazquez rallied for a 1 1/2-length victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Southwest Stakes. The Bob Baffert-trained colt was ineligible for Kentucky Derby points due to the trainer's suspension. (Image: Coady Photography)

Southwest Champ Newgrange Remains Unbeaten, Ineligible for Derby

- 3 min read

The fact Bob Baffert’s Newgrange won his second Kentucky Derby prep in as many months was more important to the Hall of Fame trainer than the fact that, right now, Newgrange isn’t eligible to run in the May 7 Derby. “I’m not going to worry about that right now,” Baffert […]

David Harrison (center) became the 23rd winner of the National Horseplayers Championship in the 23-year history of the event. Presenting the $725,000 first-price check are NTRA President Tom Rooney (left) and NTRA COO and NHC Tournament Director Keith Chamblin. (Image: NTRA)

Harrison Goes ‘Old-School,’ Becomes Newest NHC Champion

- 3 min read

During the week, David Harrison is a real estate appraiser. On the weekends, however, he appraises Thoroughbreds as an old-school handicapper. This weekend, he proved himself as the best appraiser of horseflesh in the world. Harrison bested a field of 643 entries at Bally’s Las Vegas, capturing the 23rd annual […]

Kenny McPeek's Dash Attack splashed his way to victory New Year's Day in the Smarty Jones. Can he do the same on a dry track as the 7/2 second choice in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park? (Image: Coady Photography)

Yes, Baffert has the Southwest Stakes Favorite, But He’s Got Company

- 4 min read

Today’s $750,000 Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park has the usual Bob Baffert flavor: 2/1 morning-line favorite Newgrange, shipping in from California in search of Baffert’s record-tying fifth Southwest title. But there’s a new contender awaiting: Kenny McPeek, who finds himself in the unfamiliar role of trainer of Kentucky […]

Concert Tour seeks a return to the form he showed last spring at Santa Anita Park. He finished last in his first race in eight months. (Image: Zoe Metz)

Cox Frustrated by Concert Tour’s Single Gear

- 2 min read

Brad Cox knows the rules of engagement, which doesn’t make Concert Tour’s last-place finish in last weekend’s Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park any easier to digest. Losing by 15 lengths as the 3/2 favorite in the nine-horse Fifth Season field does, however, come with reinforced lessons. One of which being, […]

Dash Attack conquered 12 rivals and the Oaklawn Park slop Saturday, winning the Smarty Jones Stakes and giving trainer Kenny McPeek another Kentucky Derby contender. (Image: Coady Photography)

Smarty Jones Winner Dash Attack Gives McPeek a Pleasant Problem

- 3 min read

Kenny McPeek has what you call a Kentucky Derby embarrassment of riches coming courtesy of Dash Attack, who won Saturday’s Listed Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park. And the dynamic trainer is still trying to put the talented pieces together. That’s because, on Saturday, McPeek added another piece to an […]

Home Brew finds himself the favorite in a deep, record-sized Smarty Jones field. The mile-race is Oaklawn Park's first of four Kentucky Derby preps. (Image Coady Photography)

Oaklawn’s Smarty Jones Packs In, Sends Out a Record-Sized Field

- 4 min read

Whichever candidate wins Saturday’s Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park will get themselves a dress rehearsal for the Kentucky Derby and its cavalry-charge-sized field. Because, barring any scratches, the Smarty Jones will send out the largest field in event history with 14 horses. The one-mile Smarty Jones, the first of […]

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