Jackie's Warrior outlasts Letsgetlucky in Count Fleet
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Champion Jackie’s Warrior capped an outstanding Oaklawn afternoon for jockey Joel Rosario on Saturday when he won his 4-year-old debut in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap.
It was the fourth win on the card for Rosario – and the ride he’d been waiting for since last November.
“He means a lot to me,” Rosario said. “We don’t see those kinds of horses every day. I’m glad to have the opportunity to ride one.”
Rosario, who like Jackie’s Warrior was an Eclipse Award winner in 2021, won four races on the 12-race card Saturday. The pair broke on top in the six-furlong Count Fleet, run on a sloppy track, and dueled with Empire of Gold through an opening quarter in 21.61 seconds. Jackie’s Warrior moved clear of that rival through a half-mile in 44.51 and went on to cover the distance in 1:09.09.
“He’s an amazing horse,” Rosario said of the champion male sprinter. “He just got out of there very fast like he always does and just keeps going.”
Jackie’s Warrior ($3) won by a three-quarters of a length over a fast-closing Letsgetlucky. It was another length back in third to Chipofftheoldblock.
Steve Asmussen trains Jackie’s Warrior and was one of 14 members of the Hall of Fame who were honored between races Saturday. Following the Count Fleet, he was joined by his fellow Hall of Famers in the winner’s circle Saturday.
J. Kirk and Judy Robison, who after more than 25 years in the business collected their first Eclipse Award with Jackie’s Warrior, intended to be at Oaklawn, but the extreme weather in the area thwarted their plans, said Kirk Robison.
It rained early and often throughout the day, and the morning was marked with severe lighting. The track condition started as sloppy, was moved to muddy, then after another hit of serious rain was downgraded to sloppy for the seventh race Saturday.
“It was a really, really fun race,” Kirk Robison said of the comeback win with Jackie’s Warrior. “And I’m relieved, especially when you come off having a chip removed and a five-month layoff. So, he ran really well.”
Jackie’s Warrior last raced in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and finished sixth. Following the start, he was found to have a bone chip in a knee that was removed. Jackie’s Warrior was the favorite in the BC Sprint after winning four graded stakes last year for the Robisons, including the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga in a thriller over Life Is Good.
Asmussen said prior to the Count Fleet that the race could serve as a steppingstone to the Grade 1, $750,000 Churchill Downs on May 7. He also said he’d like the horse’s campaign this year to include Saratoga, noting the horse’s four starts at the track have resulted in four graded wins.
Robison said the Count Fleet was a wonderful of start to the upcoming season.
“He did not blow the field away,” he said. “He did what he had to do.”
Jackie’s Warrior is a son of Maclean’s Music. He has now won 9 of 13 starts for earnings of $1,853,964.