Eakly hopes to avoid bounce in Oklahoma Stallion

Eakly ran the best race of his young career last month and will attempt to reproduce the effort Friday night in the $50,000 Oklahoma Stallion Colts and Geldings Handicap at Remington Park.

The seven-furlong race is for 3-year-olds by eligible stallions. It shares a card with the $50,000 Oklahoma Stallion Fillies, led by multiple stakes winner Doudoudouwanadance. There are nine runners in colts and geldings division and seven for the fillies side, and all were bred in Oklahoma.

Eakly is co-highweighted at 121 pounds after soundly defeating older horses in an Aug. 25 allowance at Remington. He showed more speed than usual and wired his rivals by 3 1/4 lengths. He earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 77, which is the best last-race figure in the Oklahoma Stallion.

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Eakly was making his first start at 3 – and first since December. Trainer Donnie Von Hemel is hoping to see him run back to the effort Friday.

“I wasn’t surprised that he could compete in that race – I was a little surprised he did it the way he did it,” Von Hemel said.

“Is he going to bounce off that first race? That’s kind of in the back of your head. But it’s straight 3-year-olds, Oklahoma-breds. If you can be ready for that, you need to give it a whirl.”

Eakly is all about Oklahoma as a homebred for Oklahoma native Everett Dobson. Eakly’s name also represents the Sooner State.

“It’s a little town in western Oklahoma,” Von Hemel said. “Mr. Dobson is from western Oklahoma.”

Dobson was born in Cheyenne, Okla., and Eakly races for his Cheyenne Stables. The operation also raced Eakly’s sire, Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Caleb’s Posse, in partnership with McNeill Stable. Von Hemel trained Caleb’s Posse.

Richard Eramia has the mount on Eakly from post 2. The horse is making his first start at seven furlongs on Friday.

“It’s a specialist’s kind of distance,” Von Hemel said. “I don’t know if they’re a seven-eighths horse until I see them do it – that’s the position I take. I’m really looking forward to getting the horse on the turf at some point, with Lonhro on the bottom side of his pedigree.”

Von Hemel said until then, the focus is Friday’s race in which the stakes-placed Eakly attempts to nail downs his first stakes win. Eakly’s fellow highweights are Dark Afternoon, who is a winner of 3 of 5 starts and proven at seven-eighths, and Majestic Liasion, who is seeking his fourth straight win in a streak that started in June at Fair Meadows in Tulsa.

Doudoudouwanadance is seeking the third stakes win of her career in the Oklahoma Stallion Fillies. She’s back with straight 3-year-olds after facing older rivals and has reason to move forward in her second start since May. Leandro Goncalves has the mount from the rail for breeder Terry Westemeir and trainer Scott Young.

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