Englehart out of the gate well at Oaklawn

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Villainous helped trainer Jeremiah Englehart get off to a fast start at the Oaklawn Park meet when the 3-year-old won his two-turn debut on opening day.

Now, he’s headed for the track’s Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest on Feb. 17.

Villainous won a maiden special weight over a mile and a sixteenth Jan. 24, by a length and a quarter under Irad Ortiz, Jr. Villainous, by Wicked Strong, earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 77.

“We’re going to run Villainous in the Southwest,” Englehart said Tuesday. “We’ll give him a shot to improve and go from there. In his last couple of works before he ran, he seemed like he was heading in the right direction. He still was a little green in the race, Irad said, so I think there’s room for improvement.”

Villainous races for Harold Lerner.

His potential Southwest rivals include Answer In, Gold Street, Gouverneur Morris, Shoplifted, and Silver Prospector. The first four finishers in the 1 1/16-mile race will earn Kentucky Derby points on a scale of 10-4-2-1.

Englehart’s local 3-year-olds also include Three Technique, an individual betting interest in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday. Three Technique last ran second in the $150,000 Smarty Jones, also on opening day at Oaklawn.

“Our plan is to run him back in the Rebel,” Englehart said of the Grade 2, $1 million race March 14 at Oaklawn.

The Englehart-trained Maryanorginger, winner of the $150,000 Astoria in her lone start June 6 at Belmont Park, had her first work back here Monday, going three-eighths in 38.60 seconds.

“Hopefully she’ll continue to progress, have her first race back at Oaklawn,” said Englehart.

Englehart, a New York-based horseman who has a division here for the first time, has gone 2 for 4 this meet.

“I liked what I saw from the horses before the meet,” he said. “It seemed like the crew I have there, they kind of carried things over from Saratoga. The horses look good. You always want to get off to a good start.

“I want to make January to May a thing every year. I’m glad things going as well as they are right now. Hopefully, we can continue that.”

Englehart on Saturday will send out Home Run Maker in the $125,000 King Cotton.