Chleborad building on career year

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Lynn Chleborad is coming off one of the best runs of her career and would like to see that momentum carry over at Oaklawn. She has 37 horses on the grounds for the meet.

Chleborad's barn won 74 races last year and $1,598,673 in purses, the most in any year since she began training in 1987. Chleborad was the overall leading Thoroughbred trainer at Prairie Meadows, where she won the spring meet title, then finished second by one win in the fall mixed standings. Overall, her runners won 51 races last year at Prairie Meadows and earned $1.2 million in purses. During the spring season, Chleborad won 39 races from 214 starters for meet-best stable earnings of $878,759.

"I was pretty proud of that," she said of winning the spring title.

Her stable includes a handful of promising 3-year-olds by such stallions as Broken Vow, Is It True, and Wildcat Heir. Notable older horses in the barn include Kate's Main Man, Princess Bianconi, and Kippersol.

"I think I've got a balanced stable," said Chleborad. "We've got some nice young horses coming up."

Cainam, a 3-year-old by Yes It's True, is training toward his season debut. He last raced in September and was fourth to Uh Oh Bango in the $53,000 Prairie Meadows Freshman. Before that start, Cainam was second to Western Smoke in the $50,000 Prairie Meadows Juvenile.

"He's hit some pretty tough horses in his career," Chleborad said.

Chleborad, who has a showhorse background, started her racing career galloping horses for noted Nebraska-based trainer Herb Riecken.

Flights arriving for Southwest

At least four 3-year-olds are scheduled to fly to Oaklawn Tuesday or Wednesday for the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest, said Craig Lytel, the track's stakes coordinator. A one-mile race to be run Feb. 15, the Southwest is the first major prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby.

Lytel said a flight Tuesday is coming in from Florida, and a flight Wednesday is bringing horses from Southern California. Among the horses expected to fly in are Caracortado, Mission Impazible, and Silver Craft, said Lytel.

Oaklawn will have an extended, five-day race week from Thursday to Monday.

Seven straight for Sea Gaze?

Sea Gaze will be seeking his seventh consecutive win Sunday, when he runs in the fifth race, a $40,000 optional-claiming route that carries second-level allowance conditions. It will be run at 1 1/16 miles and drew a field of eight.

Sea Gaze won a first-level allowance at Fair Grounds by more than four lengths in his last start Jan. 9. His streak began in August, when he took a $10,000 starter allowance at Hoosier Park.

Corey Nakatani has the mount for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Also on the program is a first-level allowance sprint for 3-year-olds that carries an optional-claiming price of $75,000. It will be run over six furlongs. Trainer Tim Ritchey could have the favorite in Sonar, who was an impressive maiden special weight winner here Jan. 16.

Four-bagger for Nakatani

Nakatani won four races Thursday at Oaklawn to take the lead in the standings. He had won 11 races from 44 starters heading into the card Friday, a 25 percent strike rate. Nakatani decided last fall to base in the Midwest after spending most of his career riding in Southern California.

* Larry Colburn, a longtime owner who for the last 10 years has raced at Oaklawn, died at an Eagan, Minn., hospital Jan. 31. Colburn also raced in Minnesota and Maryland, said Mac Robertson, one of his trainers.