Hamazing Destiny wants it fast
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Fast track, please.
That is what trainer D. Wayne Lukas wants for Hamazing Destiny, who heads a second-level allowance sprint at Oaklawn Park on Friday. The horse had been scratched from a similar spot here Feb. 21 because of wet track conditions, said Lukas.
"It was the mud," he said. "We've tried him in the mud a couple of times. He doesn't have any confidence in it, so we're probably not going to do that anymore."
But on a fast track, Hamazing Destiny has shown brilliance. He was a 7 3/4-length winner of a first-level allowance at Churchill Downs two races back in November, earning a career-best Beyer Figure of 107. The effort sent him to post as the favorite for his next start, the $50,000 King Cotton at Oaklawn, but he never got into the race and finished fourth on a wet track Feb. 5.
Hamazing Destiny will break from the rail Friday and has the speed to take advantage of the draw. He was with the pace in the Churchill Downs allowance. Terry Thompson has the mount on the 4-year-old Hamazing Destiny, who last year won his maiden at Oaklawn.
Friday's allowance will be run over six furlongs and drew a field of eight horses, including Henshin Hero, a 3-year-old who turned in a powerful wire-to-wire win against first-level allowance rivals at Oaklawn on Feb. 20. He won off by seven lengths and earned a career-best Beyer Figure of 95. Israel Ocampo has the mount for trainer Bret Calhoun.
Backwater Blues finished second in the $50,000 Mountain Valley at Oaklawn in his last start Feb. 27. Backwater Blues closed well in that race behind wire-to-wire winner Comedero. Before that race, Backwater Blues rallied for a neck win in a first-level allowance here Jan. 23. Abel Castellano Jr. will ride for trainer Cindy Jones.
Steve Margolis, a Fair Grounds-based trainer who is winning with 44 percent of his shippers this meet at Oaklawn, has sent in Klassi Berti. The horse had a wide trip when seventh in a quick first-level allowance last out at Fair Grounds, and before that race was third at this level. Klassi Berti will be ridden by Calvin Borel.