Tag: Razorback Handicap

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 […]

Lone Rock's first Oaklawn Park stakes victory came in this Tinsel Stakes score in December. He is the 3/1 morning-line favorite in Saturday's Grade 3 Razorback Handicap. (Image: Coady Photography)

Lone Rock Becomes a Solid Choice in a Deep Razorback

- 2 min read

This time last year, Lone Rock was preparing for a mid-level allowance race at Oaklawn Park. He was three months away from being claimed for $40,000 after a November race at Churchill Downs. Now, the gelding is two days away from racing for a chunk of a $600,000 purse in […]

Oaklawn Park lost eight days of racing last year due to winter storms. The Arkansas track canceled this weekend's racing card due to Winter Storm Landon. (Image: Coady Photography)

Oaklawn Park Cancels Weekend Races; Fog Wipes Out Aqueduct Finale

- 2 min read

Winter Storm Landon and the freezing temperatures blanketing the central US wiped out racing at three tracks on Thursday, most prominently at Oaklawn Park, which announced it’s canceling racing this weekend. Along with that Arkansas track, Sam Houston Race Park in Texas and Turfway Park in Kentucky both scrubbed their […]

Jockey Luis Saez and Mystic Guide quieted the few critics they had in March's Dubai World Cup. The 4-year-old returns for Saturday's Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont Park. (Image: Mathea Kelly/Dubai Racing Club)

Mystic Guide Proves His Strong Form is No Mystery, Rides Into Suburban

- 3 min read

Last summer, Mystic Guide gave Mike Stidham that “a-ha” moment all trainers look for in their charges; the moment they see a horse “get it.” It’s a feeling every trainer seeks — the knowledge their horse is understanding their capabilities, how good they can be, and what they can do […]

Fire At Will proved he is great on grass with this Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf win. Can he give favorite Greatest Honour a dirt duel in Saturday's Fountain of Youth? (Image: Coady Photography)

Weekend Stakes: Third Time Should be Oaklawn Park’s Charm

- 4 min read

This weekend’s stakes card gives us another shot at seeing the 2021 debuts of Essential Quality, Jackie’s Warrior, and Monomoy Girl. After two weather postponements over the past two weekends, Oaklawn Park finally gets a thumbs-up from Mother Nature. That means the Arkansas track finally gets to turn loose its […]

Unfortunately, there is no morning line on the snowplows at Oaklawn Park. The Arkansas track lost eight days of racing over two weekends to the winter storms. The snowplows (Image: Coady Photography)

Oaklawn Fights Winter Postponements With More Races, Bigger Purses

- 2 min read

Scrambling to make up eight lost days of racing, Oaklawn Park officials announced a revamped schedule that reschedules its five canceled stakes races, and adds races and purse money to the Arkansas track’s schedule. Oaklawn isn’t the only American racetrack feeling the polar blast buffeting the Central and Eastern US. […]

For the second consecutive weekend, Oaklawn Park canceled its weekend racing card due to inclement weather forecasts. (Image: Richard Rasmussen/The Sentinel-Record

Citing More Storms, Oaklawn Park Postpones Weekend Card Again

- 2 min read

Oaklawn Park announced late Monday evening that it canceled this weekend’s Thursday through Sunday racing card, citing stormy forecasts for the Hot Springs, AR, region. This once again pushes back three Grade 3 races, including a key Kentucky Derby prep involving Champion 2-Year-Old Essential Quality. That race, the Southwest Stakes, […]

Mystic Guide comes into this weekend's Grade 3 Razorback Handicap with six in-the-money finishes. That includes his victory here in last summer's JIm Dandy Stakes at Saratoga. (Image: Coglianese Photo)

Weekend Stakes Span the Globe From Saudi Arabia to California

- 4 min read

Looking at this weekend’s notable stakes races takes the eye halfway around the world to the $20 million Saudi Cup. Another look also takes the eye back to three races postponed from last weekend to this weekend – the Southwest Stakes, the Bayakoa Stakes, and the Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn […]

Oaklawn Park scrubbed its Presidents' Weekend card due to expected ice storms this weekend. The Arkansas track rescheduled five stakes races -- three graded stakes -- to the following weekend. (Image: Oaklawn Park)

Oaklawn Park Postpones Big Weekend Stakes Cards Due to Weather

- 2 min read

With ice and frigid temperatures in the forecast, Oaklawn Park canceled its Presidents’ Day weekend card on Wednesday, rescheduling its five stakes for the following weekend. That means horseplayers must wait another five days to see Champion 2-Year-Old Essential Quality make his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 3 $750,000 Southwest […]

Midnight Bourbon leads the top four finishers of last month's Lecomte Stakes into this weekend's Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. That race gives 50 points to the winner, virtually guaranteeing a Kentucky Derby spot. (Image: Hodges Photography)

Risen Star Brings Rising Derby Points to the Weekend Stakes

- 4 min read

This weekend’s stakes races bring us Essential Quality making his 3-year-old debut in one Kentucky Derby prep. They bring us the first win-and-you’re-in Derby prep, and they bring us a Derby prep that gives the winner a berth in the Preakness Stakes. They also bring back Monomoy Girl for her […]