Far Right and Mr. Z headed their separate ways

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Far Right has now won both of his Oaklawn Park matchups with Mr. Z – Sunday’s Southwest Stakes and last month’s Smarty Jones Stakes. But the rivalry, which has highlighted the local 3-year-old series, is unlikely to be renewed in next month’s Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel Stakes here.

Far Right and Mr. Z have different agendas coming out of the Southwest, and as a result, the 1 1/16-mile Rebel will have a new look when it is run March 14.

Southwest winner Far Right is likely to await the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 11, trainer Ron Moquett said Monday. The next start for Mr. Z, third in the Southwest, is to be determined, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. Lukas noted that Mr. Z and champion American Pharoah both are owned by Zayat Stables, and that Mr. Z won’t run in the Rebel because American Pharoah is scheduled to invade for the race.

:: ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays

Both Far Right and Mr. Z have the goal of making the Kentucky Derby, with Far Right sixth in eligibility points with 22, and Mr. Z sitting ninth with 14.

“In my mind, our primary goal is the Arkansas Derby and the Kentucky Derby,” Moquett said of Far Right. “I’m doing everything to have a fresh horse in May, so I’m probably skipping the Rebel. I don’t want to get to the party and not have any punch.”

Far Right earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 91 for his three-quarter-length win in the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest. He angled out on the turn for home, then dove back down to the rail in the final furlong to win in the slop. Moquett was pleased with how the horse came out of the race.

“He’s good,” he said Monday. “He’s very happy and no worse for the wear. He’s got a few nicks from the track slipping out from under him. I don’t think he handled the surface very well at all. I’m very proud of the effort he put out. Basically, he was going through stuff he didn’t really care for to make sure that we won. I think his heart got him there.”

Mike Smith, who has been aboard Far Right for his last two starts, said after the race that Far Right did not handle the wet track as well as he had hoped, and that is one of the reasons he said he looks for continued improvement from the colt.

Moquett said the Arkansas Derby is likely the next stop, provided the move is agreeable with co-owners Harry Rosenblum and Robert LaPenta. Rosenblum following the Southwest said his initial feeling was to await the Arkansas Derby.

“We want to have, No. 1, a horse that goes to the [Kentucky] Derby, and if he does, we don’t want to be spent by the time we get there,” Rosenblum said Sunday.

Moquett said Smith has the mount in the Arkansas Derby.

Mr. Z set the pace to the latter stages of the Southwest and finished three-quarters of a length behind Far Right, edged for second in a photo with The Truth Or Else. Lukas said he was pleased with Mr. Z’s effort on the wet track. The Southwest went as the eighth race on a rainy afternoon, and the surface was downgraded from “good” to “sloppy” for the fourth race.

“The first through seventh [races], there was one pace-forward horse that finished well,” Lukas said. “If you watch all seven races, no horse set any kind of fractions and finished. It’s a great credit to him.”

Lukas said he is looking for a race for Mr. Z around the third week of March.

The Truth Or Else is headed to the Rebel, trainer Ken McPeek said Monday. The Truth Or Else ran a big race for second in the Southwest, his first start since November.

“It’s hard not to be happy with the race he ran,” McPeek said Monday. “He was slung really wide on the first turn, and we think he probably needed the race as well. We were coming into this really optimistic, thinking he’s a really good colt that’s going to keep improving.”

The Truth Or Else races for Harold Lerner.