Exclamation Point in stakes tryout
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Exclamation Point will attempt to improve his career record to 5 for 6 on Sunday when the half-brother to champion Classic Empire runs in the featured eighth race at Oaklawn Park.
Exclamation Point is part of a nine-horse field for the optional $75,000 claiming race for 4-year-olds and up at a mile. His chief rivals include multiple Grade 3 winner Shotgun Kowboy, stakes winners Phat Man and Lone Rock, and the multiple stakes-placed Petrov.
Exclamation Point will get good support off a win in an optional $80,000 claiming race over a mile and a sixteenth March 5 at Fair Grounds. He earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 93.
“He ran a tremendous race,” said trainer Brad Cox. “He showed a lot of fight down the lane to hold off some good horses.”
The field included Hawaakom, the winner of last year’s Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn.
Cox said the right kind of performance Sunday from Exclamation Point could set him up for his stakes debut. Races that would be considered, he said, include the Alysheba at Churchill Downs, the Oaklawn Mile at Oaklawn Park, and the Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park.
Exclamation Point will break from post 3 on Sunday. Stewart Elliott has the mount for Steve and Brandi Nicholson and Flurry Racing Stables.