Banishing vies for third straight win in rescheduled Byerley Turk
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mother Nature pulled a fast one on Banishing, and that’s tough to do.
Banishing is the fastest horse to have raced so far at this Oaklawn Park meet based on Beyer Speed Figures, but even he was unable to outrun the winter weather that pushed his planned Monday start to Thursday.
Banishing was to have stepped up into the overnight stakes ranks for the $145,000 Byerley Turk on Monday, but the entire card had to be moved, as drawn, to Thursday.
First post is 12:30 p.m. Central for the first of four race dates this week, highlighted by the running of the Grade 3, $1 million Southwest on Saturday.
The Byerley Turk, a six-furlong race for 4-year-olds and up, is the first of 10 new overnight stakes races added to the racing program this season. It drew a field of nine.
Banishing made a splash in his last start Dec. 20, earning a Beyer of 103 for a conditioned allowance win over millionaire Tejano Twist and stakes winner Run Classic. Banishing covered six furlongs in 1:09.55.
“His form speaks for itself,” said trainer David Jacobson, who co-owns Banishing with Lawrence Roman. “That last race was a heck of a performance. You don’t get too many of those, you know. He really surprised us.”
The Beyer that Banishing earned is the top number put up during the meet that opened Dec. 6. The same race also yielded this season’s second-best number to date, a 100 by Tejano Twist.
Five-year-old Banishing is a son of Ghostzapper out of the A.P. Indy mare Dowager. He breezed three-eighths in 38.60 seconds on Saturday.
“He’s a big, good-looking horse, very sound, very professional,” Jacobson said. “And he’s going into the race as good as anyone.”
Banishing is seeking his third straight win in a streak that began with a second-level allowance win Nov. 23 at Churchill Downs. He will break from post 5 under Ricardo Santana Jr.
“There’s some speed in there,” Jacobson said. “He’ll be laying pretty close.”
Jacobson, a New York racing stalwart, is wintering this year at Oaklawn, where he has 26 horses. The barn includes Disco Ball, who will be looking for his seventh straight win Thursday when he starts from post 7 in the seventh race, a $40,000 starter-allowance sprint.
Last season, Jacobson brought a handful of horses to town to test the waters at Oaklawn.
“I liked what I saw last year, and so far it’s been a very successful meet,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll finish up on a really good note.”
Banishing’s rivals include Nasty Habit, who flew in Jan. 14 from Southern California. He is making his first start since a May win in a first-level allowance at Laurel. This also is his first start for trainer Peter Miller. Nasty Habit breezed Saturday at Oaklawn, going five-eighths in 1:01.80.
“He hasn’t missed any work,” Miller said. “He’s fit and ready to go, and we’re excited to see him run. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and done everything quite easily. We think he’s a horse with a quite a bit of talent and there’s just a lot of opportunity at Oaklawn, and so we decided to put him on the plane.”
Ramon Vazquez has the mount from post 6.
Of a Revolution exits a fourth-place finish in the Ring the Bell Stakes on opening weekend at Oaklawn. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has given the mount to Fernando Jara.
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