Charlatan romps by six lengths in first division of Arkansas Derby

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Charlatan put in a Division 1 performance in the first division of the Grade 1, $500,000 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on Saturday when he set a quick pace and came home strongly for a six-length win over Basin.

Charlatan, making his stakes debut after winning the first two starts of his career by a combined margin of 16 lengths, picked up 100 points for the Kentucky Derby, which has been postponed until Sept. 5.

Basin, a Grade 1 winner, edged third-place finisher Gouverneur Morris by a neck. It was another three lengths back in fourth to Winning Impression. The trio also earned Kentucky Derby points, on a scale of 40-20-10.

Charlatan ($2.80) came into the Arkansas Derby armed with the year’s highest Beyer Speed Figures for a 3-year-old, a 105 and a 106. He broke well Saturday and proceeded to take the field through fractions of 22.28 seconds for the opening quarter, 46.08 for the half-mile, and 1:09.68 for six furlongs. Basin took up the chase, as Charlatan continued to lead through a mile in 1:35.33 before finishing the mile and an eighth on a fast track in 1:48.49.

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“I was galloping and could feel someone at the three-eighths pole getting closer,” winning rider Martin Garcia said in an interview broadcast by Oaklawn. “I let him go and he took off. It takes a really good horse to do that.”

Garcia was aboard for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who was winning the Arkansas Derby for the third time. He also won with Bodemeister in 2012 and American Pharoah in 2015.

Drayden Van Dyke had ridden Charlatan in his first two starts, but Garcia got the call Saturday for a couple of different reasons, Baffert said earlier this week. Garcia, who has won a number of major races for Baffert, is based at Oaklawn, and Van Dyke has been at Santa Anita.

With racing at Santa Anita having been suspended since the latter part of March due to the coronavirus pandemic, Baffert noted the Southern California track has not allowed jockeys on the backstretch for some time. Baffert said it was a "gut feeling" to put Garcia aboard since Van Dyke has not been race-riding on a regular basis. His last mount was April 18 at Oaklawn.

Charlatan earned $300,000 for the win Saturday to push his career bankroll to $367,200. He is a son of Speightstown and the Grade 2-winning mare Authenticity. Charlatan is owned by a partnership of S F Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Frederick Hertrich III, John Fielding, and Golconda Stables.

The scene Saturday was unlike any Arkansas Derby Day since the race was first run in 1936. For starters, it was held the first Saturday in May after being a fixture in April as one of the final preps for the Kentucky Derby. The grandstand was empty on an afternoon that would normally draw 60,000, all because of the coronavirus pandemic placing restrictions on gatherings.

Oaklawn moved Arkansas Derby to May after the Kentucky Derby was rescheduled, and ended up carding two divisions of the race when the entry box was flooded with 22 horses after the cancellation of the spring meet at Keeneland and the suspension of racing at Santa Anita.

It's the first time the race has been run in divisions since 1960.