HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Spun D M C has several variables in his favor heading into the $150,000 Advent Stakes for 2-year-olds on Friday’s season opener at Oaklawn Park – including a key one over which he had no control. And in the words of the rap group Run DMC, post positions can be “tricky, tricky, tricky, tricky.” Spun D M C will start from gate 6 in a field of seven that meets over 5 1/2 furlongs. “I love his draw,” trainer Randy Morse said. “Anytime you’re in a sprint race, I think you’re better off outside. You don’t have to expose your hand. You can kind of see what everybody else is doing and go from there. We’ll leave it up to the jock.” The jockey is another variable working in Spun D M C’s favor. He gets the services of one of the nation’s leading riders in Luis Saez, who is new to Oaklawn. The Advent field includes Ganaas, who is cutting back to a sprint after finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Street Sense in October at Churchill Downs; Walter the Mason, who won last month’s $100,000 Zia Park Juvenile; and debut winners Boca Beach Club and Strong Potential. Spun D M C is a talented sort who has tactical speed. He is a son of the useful stallion Spun to Run, who also has a chief contender in the first race Friday in Rockin Robin. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Spun D M C is stakes-placed from two starts. He won his debut in a maiden special weight on Sept. 12 at Churchill while covering six furlongs in a quick 1:09.76, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 80. “He ran great,” Morse said. “He had been working really good before he ran and he kind of lived up to what he’d been showing us in the mornings.” In his most recent start, Spun D M C was second by six lengths as the favorite in the Bowman Mill on Oct. 25 at Keeneland. Spun D M C traveled to Lexington from his base at Churchill. “When we shipped him over there that morning to Keeneland, he got really shook up at the barn, you know, strange place, never been there,” Morse said. “He got keyed up. Young horse, different place. I know it had to affect him some. I’m not trying to make excuses, but he’s better than what he ran in that race. I sure believe that. We’ll see.” Spun D M C will have the benefit of running out of his own stall Friday as he has settled in at Oaklawn. “He’s been here, breezed here,” said Morse, who co-owns Spun D M C with UPcountry Farm. Walter the Mason will start from the rail after wiring the field in the Zia Park Juvenile. Dirty Rush exits a race that has produced three next-out winners, all at Del Mar. Chad Allen comes off a maiden special weight win at Remington Park. The Advent goes as the eighth of 10 races and is in the sequence of two new wagers this meet – the $1 pick six that runs on the final six races of the card and the late $3 pick three that will have a reduced takeout of 15 percent. First post is 12:30 p.m. Central. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.