Hartman has them coming and going in Count Fleet
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The stablemates Tejano Twist and Edge to Edge will bring complementary running styles into the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
The six-furlong race for 4-year-olds and up shares a card with the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap. The stakes continue the Racing Festival of the South and will be showcased on a 12-race card. The forecast is for a high of 78 degrees with an 80 percent chance of a thunderstorm, according to AccuWeather.
The Count Fleet has brought together a strong cast of 10 that includes the up-and-coming runners Skelly and Strobe, Grade 3 winner Candy Man Rocket, and Fair Grounds leading sprinter Surveillance. Tejano Twist is the 124-pound highweight off his win in the Grade 3 Whitmore on March 18 at Oaklawn; Edge to Edge was third in the race. Both horses hail from the barn of trainer Chris Hartman.
“Edge to Edge runs on the lead and Tejano Twist comes from the back,” Hartman said. “They’re both doing really good. We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out.”
Tejano Twist won the third stakes race of his career in the Whitmore. For the effort, he earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 101.
“I thought he ran a heck of a race,” Hartman said. “It was his customary late kick and he looked pretty good. He’s been in good form and it looks like he likes this track. He loves it here.”
Tejano Twist is 2 for 3 at Oaklawn, with his lone loss a runner-up finish to Grade 1 winner Gunite in the $150,000 King Cotton on Jan. 28.
Edge to Edge was making a rare stakes start in the Whitmore and came after he won back-to-back allowances at Oaklawn with triple-digit Beyers.
“He’s just really turned it on in his 5-year-old year,” Hartman said. “He’s blossomed. He’s turning it on right now. He’s in the best form of his life.”
Mitchell Murrill has the mount from the rail, while Francisco Arrieta will be aboard Tejano Twist from post 5.
Skelly popped a career-high Beyer of 100 last out for a second-level allowance win at Oaklawn. It was his second straight win at the meet, and he led throughout while covering six furlongs in 1:09.52.
“He’s run some very fast races,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “The key with him is the break.”
Skelly will make his stakes debut from post 2, under regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr.
Strobe is moving into stakes company for the first time off a pair of Fair Grounds allowance wins for which he earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures. The son of Into Mischief and the multiple Grade 1-winning mare Flashing will break from post 10. Florent Geroux has the mount for trainer Brad Cox.
Candy Man Rocket is seeking his fourth straight win, following a pair of allowances and the Gulfstream Park Sprint. Junior Alvarado has the mount from post 4 for trainer Bill Mott.
Surveillance won three consecutive sprint stakes this meet at Fair Grounds. James Graham will be aboard from post 7 for trainer Keith Desormeaux.
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