Hawaakom stays sharp working for New Orleans Handicap

Hawaakom, one of the best older dirt horses at Fair Grounds, worked five furlongs in 1:01 on Thursday at Fair Grounds, his first timed breeze since he finished second behind Gun Runner on Feb. 20 in the Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park.

Wes Hawley, who trains Hawaakom and is his majority owner, said Hawaakom still is on track to race April 1 in the New Orleans Handicap here.

“He worked unbelievable this morning, nice and easy,” Hawley said. “He’ll have two more works before the race. He puts a lot into his training. You don’t need to beat on him. We’re in great shape coming out of Oaklawn. I didn’t want to overwork him.”

Hawaakom, a 7-year-old Jazil gelding, was claimed for $15,000 in November 2014, steadily improved, and has become a solid graded-stakes horse. He won the Louisiana Handicap with a powerful late rally in January at Fair Grounds before coming home a clear second in the Razorback, and Hawaakom should be a leading contender in the New Orleans Handicap.

◗ Western Reserve, who has been among the top older-male turf-route horses this winter at Fair Grounds, is recovering from a bruised foot that forced him to be scratched from the Feb. 25 Fair Grounds Handicap. Trainer Brad Cox said Western Reserve is in light training and is likely to miss the Mervin Muniz Handicap on April 1.

◗ The nominal feature on Sunday’s nine-race card is race 8, a first-level allowance race for fillies and mares carded for six furlongs on dirt and also open to $17,500 claimers. The race is inscrutable, the shorter prices hard to trust, and the upset selection is Lough Ness, whose contending form is obscured by a troubled trip and two races over surfaces for which she might not have cared.