Mallard's Bro shortens to sprint for Nodouble

The $75,000 Nodouble Stakes, which was canceled last weekend due to inclement weather, headlines the Sunday program at Oaklawn Park. Mallard’s Bro will be making a rare start at one turn for the six-furlong race restricted to 3-year-olds and up bred in Arkansas. The race drew a field of 10.

Mallard’s Bro will be cutting back from a 1 1/16-mile allowance score against Arkansas-breds on Feb. 15. Making his first start since September, he rallied from eighth for a one-length win. Ricardo Santana Jr., the meet’s leading rider, has the mount for trainer Al Cates.

Mallard’s Bro became a stakes winner last year in the $75,000 Arkansas Breeders’ over 1 1/16 miles. The race is again an objective for the horse, Cates said last week. The Arkansas Breeders’ will be renewed March 27.

Other leading contenders in the Nodouble include Rock City Roadhog, a winner of four of his last six starts who breaks from the rail, and Best of Birdstone, a stakes-placed runner who invades from Delta Downs.

◗ Also on Sunday’s card, Irish You Well meets Street Strategy in the ninth race, a second-level optional $40,000 claiming route. Irish You Well won the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park last July before finishing fourth to eventual Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational.

Israel Ocampo has the mount for trainer Wayne Catalano.

Street Strategy won a first-level allowance in his last start, earning a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 90. Calvin Borel has the mount for trainer Randy Morse.