Large field expected for Arkansas Derby

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The fields for the seven stakes races making up the $3.45 million Racing Festival of the South, which runs Thursday through Saturday at Oaklawn, are taking shape, with a large group of 3-year-olds anticipated for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby.

“It’s looking like 10 or 11,” Pat Pope, racing secretary at Oaklawn, said Friday. “That’s what we know of.”

The Arkansas Derby is the centerpiece of the Oaklawn meet and will highlight a 12-race closing-day card April 15. Pope said the 1 1/8-mile race would be slotted as the 11th on a card that starts at 12:30 p.m. Central.

Entries for the program, which includes three other stakes, will be taken Wednesday. Post positions for the Arkansas Derby will be drawn on the first floor of the grandstand in a ceremony that starts at 12:30 p.m., according to Oaklawn spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyt. It is open to the public.

The Arkansas Derby carries 170 eligibility points for the Kentucky Derby, to be awarded to the first four finishers on a scale of 100-40-20-10.

Classic Empire, the 2-year-old male champion of 2016, is on deck for the Arkansas Derby, as are the Todd Pletcher-trained stakes winners One Liner, who captured the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes in February at Oaklawn, and Malagacy, who accounted for last month’s Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel. Other potential starters include Blueridge Traveler, Conquest Mo Money, Dilettante, Lookin At Lee, Petrov, Silver Dust, Sonneteer, and Untrapped.

Conquest Mo Money, the runner-up in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby last month in New Mexico, was scheduled to arrive at Oaklawn on Saturday, Pope said.

Silver Dust, who is based at Oaklawn, worked Friday, going five-eighths in company in 59.40 seconds, working from the rail in a drill that started at the half-mile pole and went past the wire to the seven-eighths pole. Clockers caught Silver Dust galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.80.

Pope said there are two flights bringing horses to Oaklawn next week, with one from Southern California on Tuesday and the other from Florida on Wednesday.

The other stakes on Arkansas Derby Day are the Grade 2, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap; the Grade 3, $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap; and the $150,000 Northern Spur.

The weights for the Oaklawn Handicap are due out Sunday. Horses under consideration for the 1 1/8-mile race include Accelerate, American Freedom, Cupid, Domain’s Rap, Inside Straight, Midnight Storm, and Texas Chrome.

The field for the Count Fleet, run over six furlongs, could include Apprehender, Black Bear, Chief Cicatriz, Chief of Staff, Holy Boss, Moe Candy, Whitmore, and supplemental entrant Sharp Art.

The Northern Spur is a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds. Potential starters including Balandeen and Conquest Wildcat.

The Arkansas Derby is one of two Grade 1 stakes for Thoroughbreds in the Southwest region of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. The other is the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares to be run here Friday. Pope had a working list of five potential starters: Divine Elegance, champion Stellar Wind, Streamline, Terra Promessa, and Tiger Moth.

The Apple Blossom will share a card with the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy, which is being run about a week later than normal this year. The potential field for the race, which carries Kentucky Oaks eligibility points, is Benner Island, Chanel’s Legacy, Conquest Bandido, Conquest Slayer, Ever So Clever, Kell Paso, My Sweet Stella, Spooky Woods, and Vexatious.

Pope said both Kell Paso and Vexatious are now stabled at Oaklawn. He said there will be 10 races on Apple Blossom Day.

The first card of the festival Thursday features the $150,000 Bachelor, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds. Pope had a handful of probables as of Friday, among them Carson Kan, Rockshaw, and Way Out West. Trainer Steve Asmussen said Crawford is on deck for the Bachelor. The horse was one of several festival probables whom Asmussen schooled in the indoor paddock and infield before the races here Friday.

The long-range forecast for Arkansas Derby Day calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 81 degrees, according to The Weather Channel. There is a 20 percent chance of precipitation. Hoyt said the infield is scheduled to be open Saturday. Arkansas Derby Day regularly draws more than 60,000 patrons to Oaklawn, which is located in a mountain-surrounded town with a population of 35,000.

◗ Oaklawn will race this Wednesday, with the card to start at 1:30 p.m.

– additional reporting by Brad Free,
Marty McGee, and Jay Privman