Chasing Time may pursue Derby qualifying points in Southwest

Chasing Time could soon be chasing after some qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

The impressive allowance winner is being considered for a start in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest on Jan. 29 at Oaklawn Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday. The 1 1/16-mile race doles out Kentucky Derby points on a scale of 10-4-2-1.

Chasing Time was a 7 3/4-length winner of a first-level allowance Jan. 14 at Oaklawn. He covered a mile in 1:38.41 while in hand and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 81. Chasing Time was making his two-turn debut a few starts after winning a maiden special weight over seven furlongs in November at Churchill Downs.

“He’s got a very good level of ability,” Asmussen said. “Until they have success going two turns, there’s always that question. I thought he answered that emphatically.

“He’s exciting going forward.”

Chasing Time is a son of Not This Time, who won the Grade 3 Iroquois by more than eight lengths in 2016 before missing by a neck in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Chasing Time’s winning dam, Race Hunter, is a half-sister to Paid Up Subscriber, winner of the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis.

Chasing Time was a $250,000 purchase by MyRacehorse at an April auction of 2-year-olds in training put on by the Ocala Breeders Sales Co. He is part of Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager that runs from Friday through Sunday.

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The Southwest list of probables includes Dash Attack and Barber Road, who finished one-two in the $250,000 Smarty Jones on Jan. 1 at Oaklawn, and Osbourne, runner-up in the $400,000 Springboard Mile in December at Remington Park.

Optionality may try Martha Washington

The Southwest will share a card with two other stakes, and Asmussen, the leading trainer at Oaklawn, could have starters in the other races too. He said Optionality is “a possibility” for the $200,000 Martha Washington, a points race for the Kentucky Oaks.

Optionality is a daughter of Gun Runner who has won her last three races by a combined margin of 21 1/2 lengths. She captured the $50,000 Zia Park Princess over six furlongs on Nov. 23 and last out was a more than eight-length winner of the $100,000 Trapeze on Dec. 17 at Remington Park.

“With the Trapeze being her first two-turn attempt, we were thrilled with the results of it,” Asmussen said.

The Trapeze was at a mile, and Optionality earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 85.

She races for her breeder, Winchell Thoroughbreds.

The other stakes on the Southwest card is the $150,000 King Cotton, and Asmussen said Nashville is being pointed to the six-furlong race.

Nashville made his first start in a year Dec. 10 at Oaklawn and finished second in an allowance that went in track-record time. Hollis won the race and earned a Beyer of 109 for covering 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02.17. Hollis also is headed to the King Cotton, trainer John A. Ortiz said Tuesday. Nashville races for China Horse Club and WinStar Farm.

◗ The Arkansas Racing Commission has canceled Saturday’s meeting due to a surge in coronavirus cases in the state, the agency announced. There are currently record COVID hospitalization numbers in Arkansas, according to a report in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.