Horace Mann comes in sharp for stakes debut in Tinsel

Horace Mann has taken his game to a new level over the second half of the year and on Saturday at Oaklawn Park, he will make his stakes debut against graded winners Red Route One and Liberal Arts in the $175,000 Tinsel Stakes.

The 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up drew a field of nine. Others set to start include Frosted Departure, a three-time stakes winner with a strong record over the local main track, and Unload, who won at the distance in the Governor’s Cup at Remington Park.

Horace Mann began his career on grass, but made his first start on dirt in July and has gone on to win three of his last four races. For the victories, he has earned Beyer Speed Figures in the 90s.

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“Ever since we got rained off on the grass one day at Ellis Park and we decided to run him on the dirt and he won for fun, we’ve kind of never looked back in terms of surface,” trainer Phil D’Amato said last week.

“He’s just kind of steadily been on the improve in Kentucky and seems to like the dirt – and a little moisture in the ground doesn’t hurt him any as well. We thought he’d be a nice, ideal Oaklawn horse for us. He’s had a couple drills over there and is doing really well.”

Horace Mann, owned by Little Red Feather Racing, will be moving back to two turns following a pair of allowance wins at Churchill Downs. The son of Twirling Candy and the Saint Liam mare Saintly Sister will be looking for his first win at 1 1/8 miles.

“We’ve always thought he’d be a little better around two turns,” D’Amato said. “It just so happened we kind of had more one-turn mile and seven-eighths options at Churchill just by the way the conditions came up. But I think a horse with his nice tactical speed – and a big, long-striding horse – he doesn’t act like that should be beyond his grasp.”

Horace Mann last raced Nov. 9 at Churchill and won a third-level allowance at seven furlongs. He defeated Rocket Can, who has since won the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday at Gulfstream Park, as well as a pair of next-out allowance winners in Bromley and Full Screen. Horace Mann earned a Beyer of 98, which is the best last-race number in the Tinsel.

Martin Garcia has the mount from post 4.

Red Route One will start from post 5 under Ricardo Santana Jr. He is the class of the field as a Grade 2 winner of $1.8 million for breeder and owner Winchell Thoroughbreds and trainer Steve Asmussen.

Red Route One has won four stakes during his career, all of those coming at 1 1/8 miles. The victories include the Bath House Row Stakes last year at Oaklawn. He is making his second start since July, when he won the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap over Unload at Prairie Meadows.

Liberal Arts won the Grade 3 Street Sense at Churchill Downs last October. If he runs, he could be prominent when he starts from post 2, but Liberal Arts was entered as a main track only on Thursday at Fair Grounds and is expected to draw in and run there.

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