Accelerate, City of Light invade for Oaklawn Handicap

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The California shippers Accelerate and City of Light may well be the top betting choices Saturday in the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap. Their jobs were made a little tougher at the post-position draw, when they were saddled with the outside stalls in the 11-horse lineup.

Accelerate, who is coming off a win in the Santa Anita Handicap for trainer John Sadler, will break from post 10. He is back at Oaklawn for the second year, even though he never got the chance to race here in 2017.

“It was really odd,” Sadler said. “He came in, spiked a temperature, and hung out for a week.”

Sadler’s 2017 trip to Oaklawn was not a total loss. He won the Grade 1 Apple Blossom with Stellar Wind and the Grade 3 Count Fleet with Cistron.

Accelerate won the Grade 2 San Diego at Del Mar last year as a 4-year-old, but has taken his game to a new level this year. In two starts this year, both at Santa Anita, he has won the Grade 2 San Pasqual and the Grade 1 Big Cap on March 10.

“He was a late foal and very immature early on, but has made it to the top of the division this year,” Sadler said. “I felt he’d get there once we stretched him out around two turns.”

Accelerate is at Oaklawn because his March 10 victory didn’t take much out of him, according to Sadler.

“I was prepared to give him a little spacing between races, but he bounced out of it really well,” he said.

Sadler said a similar thing Thursday morning after Accelerate galloped 1 1/2 miles. Accelerate arrived at Oaklawn on Wednesday evening after flying from California to Little Rock and then vanning an hour or so to Hot Springs.

“I was prepared not to track him this morning if he was a little flat after the trip,” Sadler said. “But he’s doing fine.”

Jockey Victor Espinoza will try to avoid getting fanned wide on Accelerate entering the first turn of the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap.

City of Light has great natural speed, and the outside post poses less of a problem for him.

Trained by Michael McCarthy, who worked 12 years for Todd Pletcher before going out on his own, 4-year-old City of Light has started only six times. He comes into this race off back-to-back Grade 1 victories at Santa Anita in the Malibu and Triple Bend.

The Oaklawn Handicap will be his first race beyond seven furlongs.

“I’ve always thought he would go a longer distance,” McCarthy said, “and I’d rather find out if I’m right in a $750,000 race than a $200,000 race.”

Jockey Drayden Van Dyke will ration City of Light’s speed.

City of Light’s main pace rival could be Hedge Fund, who is trained by McCarthy’s old boss Pletcher.

Hedge Fund has made a nice appearance at Oaklawn this week, even though he wheeled on the track Wednesday and almost got loose.

Hedge Fund had an abbreviated campaign last year at 3, but has come back in top form and is 2 for 2 this year. He shipped in to win the $300,000 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn on March 17.

“I love the way he’s come back this year,” Pletcher said. “Both races so far have been impressive and it sure did appear he liked the Oaklawn track last time. It seemed like a logical move to bring him back.”

The field also includes last year’s Oaklawn Handicap winner Inside Straight, who races for trainer Robertino Diodoro.

Another horse to consider is last year’s West Virginia Derby winner Colonelsdarktemper, who will be making his second start of the year and is trained by longtime Oaklawn horseman Jenks Fires.

Hawaakom’s chances will improve if the track is wet following expected rain Saturday. He was an upset winner of the Grade 3 Razorback in February over a muddy track.