Discreetness eyes Smarty Jones Stakes next

Trainer Jinks Fires on Monday morning was heading home to Oaklawn Park with Discreetness, one of his candidates for the track’s stakes series for 3-year-olds. The pair was traveling from Remington Park, where Discreetness captured the $250,000 Springboard Mile on the final card of the meet Sunday.

“I’m driving a pickup, and he’s riding behind,” Fires said. “He’s a backseat driver!”

Discreetness won his third race in five career starts in the Springboard Mile for 2-year-olds. The horse rallied from off the pace on a card in which front-runners flourished in two-turn races, advancing four wide on the final turn and into the stretch to win by a nose. Jon Court was aboard Discreetness, who earned a 77 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He’s still a green-running horse,” Fires said. “Jon said he’s a lot better but said he’s still in the learning process. He said after the race he didn’t want to pull up. He wanted to keep running. That was a good thing.”

Fires said the next stop is the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn on Jan. 18.

“It’s in about a month. That will be about the right timing,” Fires said. “That’s what we’re pointing to and hoping that works out into the Southwest, Rebel, and Arkansas Derby. That’s our long-range plan. Each race will tell you whether you need to do that.”

Fires in 2011 sent out Archarcharch to win the Southwest Stakes and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn.

Discreetness races for Xpress Thoroughbreds, the partnership of Dwight Pruett, of Texarkana, Ark., and Paula Barnes, of Hot Springs, Ark. He is a son of Discreet Cat, while his dam, Fondness, is a half-sister to Strong Hope, a winner of the Jim Dandy and Dwyer stakes.

Fires, 75, is looking forward to the 3-year-old trail with Discreetness.

“A good horse makes every trainer feel younger,” he said.

Suddenbreakingnews, the Clever Trevor Stakes winner who was second in the Springboard Mile, also was traveling to Oaklawn on Monday, said trainer Donnie Von Hemel. Suddenbreakingnews came rolling in the Springboard Mile, split horses late, and was edged on the wire.

“I thought he showed good courage,” Von Hemel said. “He split horses, was jostled around a little bit, and just got beat a lip. It looks like more ground is sure going to be good for him. I was thrilled with the way he ran.”

Von Hemel said plans for Suddenbreakingnews, a son of Mineshaft who races for Samuel Henderson, are to be determined. He said the Smarty Jones is a possibility.

“I would imagine he will be a candidate for some of the Oaklawn races, some of the Fair Grounds races,” Von Hemel said. “The owner is from West Texas, has some dealings out around El Paso, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t a candidate for out there at some point, too.”

The Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Park Derby leads the 3-year-old program in New Mexico.

My Master Plan to Oaklawn

My Master Plan, who remained undefeated in four starts by taking the $100,000 Trapeze for 2-year-old fillies on Sunday at Remington, was traveling on Monday to Oaklawn, said trainer Von Hemel.

My Master Plan was a head winner of the Trapeze, taking the race wire-to-wire while covering a mile in 1:38.98. She ran a tad quicker than the colts one race later in the Springboard Mile (1:39.15) and earned a 79 Beyer. The Trapeze marked the two-turn debut for the sprint stakes winner My Master Plan.

“She showed some versatility as far as distance,” Von Hemel said. “We’ll just have to see which way we go now. I think she’s good both ways. We don’t have any immediate plans with her. She’s a Texas-bred, and there might be a spot or two at Houston, and we’ll have to look at the races coming up at Oaklawn, too.”

Sam Houston puts on its Texas Champions Day program in late January.

My Master Plan is a daughter of Oratory who races for Joyce McGough.

Berry gets retirement gifts

Toby Keith, a breeder, owner, and country music artist, gave jockey Cliff Berry, who retired Sunday, one of his personal guitars. Keith made his presentation Saturday night at Remington.

“Congratulations on being the winningest jockey in Remington Park history,” Keith said, according to a release from the track. “Second of all, as you ride off into the sunset, I need a backup guitar player, and I’d be honored if you’d come join our band.”

Berry is a guitar player in a band and said last week he hopes to play more during his retirement.

Trainer Bret Calhoun also gave Berry a $1,000 gift certificate for a custom set of golf clubs.

◗ Danny Caldwell won his sixth consecutive owners’ title at Remington with 49 wins. Karl Broberg was the meet’s leading trainer with 62 wins. Ramon Vazquez and C.J. McMahon tied atop the riders’ standings with 87 wins each, with Vazquez heading to Oaklawn and McMahon to Delta Downs.