Count Fleet Sprint Handicap: New running style paying off for Bob's Edge
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Bob’s Edge has emerged as the leading sprinter at the Oaklawn Park meet and on Saturday will get tested by a champion when he meets Jackie’s Warrior for the first time in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap.
The Count Fleet continues the $5.4 million Racing Festival of the South, which is a collection of major stakes run throughout the month of April at Oaklawn.
The forecast is for a high of 68 degrees and a chance of showers, according to AccuWeather.
Bob’s Edge will meet five others in the six-furlong Count Fleet. The cast is led by Jackie’s Warrior, the champion male sprinter of 2021 who is making his first start at 4. Others in the race include Empire of Gold, the third-place finisher in last year’s Count Fleet who is making his first start since October; stakes winners Mojo Man and Chipofftheoldblock; and Letsgetlucky, who has placed in three stakes at home in Southern California.
Bob’s Edge has won the first two stakes in Oaklawn’s sprint series for older males. He won the $150,000 King Cotton over a pair of track-record holders in Hollis and Nashville on Jan. 28. Bob’s Edge then returned to capture the Grade 3, $200,000 Whitmore against Greeley and Ben on March 19.
Bob’s Edge has used a devastating closing kick in both races. He came from more than eight lengths back in the Whitmore after trailing the field and was a length winner.
“I was a little concerned the last race that he dropped back that far,” trainer Larry Jones said. “We weren’t trying to take Bob back.
“It all worked out well.”
Bob Edge’s covered six furlongs on a fast track in 1:09.42 in the Whitmore and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 98.
“When I look at his personal time, that’s running,” Jones said. “When you can come home the last quarter in 23 [seconds] flat, that wins you a lot of races.
“Bob’s gotten very steady on his running. Bob’s figured out it’s better to run a quarter-mile than it is five-eighths!”
Bob’s Edge won his maiden wire to wire in November 2020 and continued to show early speed in his races during the initial stages of his career. But it was a turf race in October at Keeneland in which he closed from next-to-last to win that led to embracing a new style for Bob’s Edge, Jones said.
And with that style, the horse won his first two career stakes. Luis Quinonez has been aboard for both and has the mount from post 6 on Saturday.
“Luis Quinonez, with his style, I thought they would probably make a good match,” Jones said. “Luis and Bob get along really good. They’re a good, good match. We’ve just been very blessed it’s all come together the way it has.”
Bob's Edge is a son of Competitive Edge who races for the partnership of Michael Freeny, Patricia Freeny and Jennifer Grayson Taylor.