Count Fleet winner Skelly will run back on closing day of Oaklawn meet
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Skelly will likely make one more appearance at the Oaklawn Park meet after winning his stakes debut last Saturday in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap.
Trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday that Skelly is a candidate for the $150,000 Lake Hamilton, a six-furlong race for 4-year-olds and up May 6. It’s a new race on the stakes calendar and it comes on the final date of the season.
Skelly earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 105 for his win in the Count Fleet, which was for 4-year-olds and up at six furlongs. He led throughout, and covered the distance on a fast track in a swift 1:09.20.
The Beyer is the co-highest earned at the Oaklawn meet, sharing the distinction with Last Samurai in the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap in February.
“He came out of it really well,” Asmussen said. “He’ll most likely run back in the Lake Hamilton at Oaklawn.”
Skelly has now won three consecutive races at the current Oaklawn meet. Ricardo Santana Jr. has been aboard for all of the victories. The rider won the Count Fleet for the sixth time Saturday and Asmussen won the meet’s premier sprint offering for the fifth time. Skelly is a 4-year-old by Practical Joke who races for Red Lane Thoroughbreds.
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