Fast track would suit Wholehearted

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Owner Mike Sisk is hoping for a fast track for his mare Wholehearted in the featured eighth race Friday at Oaklawn Park.

Wholehearted will start as one of the top choices in the optional $50,000 claiming race for fillies and mares over six furlongs. She’s part of an 11-horse field that includes wire-to-wire threat Sunny Dale, win machine What a Fox, and stakes winners Liz’s Cable Girl, Georgia’s Reward, Obsolete, and Unique Factor.

The forecast for Friday calls for a high of 76 degrees with just a 10 percent chance of rain, according to The Weather Channel.

“Hopefully, the [weather] holds,” Sisk said Tuesday. “Hot Springs has had so much rain, and we’ve had so many off tracks. She likes a fast track, and we’re supposed to have a nice track.”

Wholehearted has registered her four wins on fast tracks. Her latest came last out, when she captured an optional $50,000 claiming sprint for fillies and mares Feb. 16 at Oaklawn. In the weeks since, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted normal life for much of society.

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“It’s nice when they win, such a nice distraction,” said Sisk, who with his wife, Mickala, leads the Oaklawn owner standings as M and M Racing. “There’s so many unknowns right now. I’m not there as much. Horse racing has kind of taken a back seat to things going on in the world.”

The Sisks live near Dallas and regularly travel to Oaklawn. However, in recent times the couple has curtailed their track visits, falling in line with many who are avoiding unnecessary travel and practicing social distancing or home isolation to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

“It’s just the right thing to do,” Mike Sisk said. “I have a grandbaby at home. It would be selfish for me to be off watching a horse race.”

But that doesn’t mean the Sisks won’t be tuning into the race on simulcast Friday. Mike Sisk said Wholehearted has been one of the best recent claims for his barn. She was taken for $25,000 in November and in two starts for her new owners has earned $61,200.

“We got lucky with Wholehearted,” he said.

Wholehearted is a daughter of Awesome Again and the Grade 3-winning mare My Baby Baby, who earned $509,744. David Cohen has been aboard each of her starts for the Sisks and again has the mount Friday for Oaklawn-leading trainer Robertino Diodoro.

The Sisks sit atop the owner standings with 21 wins from 98 starts and also lead all stables in earnings with $818,210.

“We’ve had a good meet there,” Mike Sisk said. “We’re thrilled.”