Man in the Can seeks better trip at two turns
Man in the Can had a season to remember at Oaklawn Park in 2020, and trainer Ron Moquett hopes to see the reigning Arkansas-bred of the year recapture that form Sunday.
Man in the Can goes in a conditioned allowance for 4-year-olds and up bred in Arkansas. The race, slotted as the eighth on a nine-race program at Oaklawn, will be run over 1 1/16 miles. The field of eight includes stakes winner K J’s Nobility.
Man in the Can, who is now 5, won two stakes at Oaklawn in 2020. He defeated fellow 3-year-olds over six furlongs in the Rainbow before winning the Arkansas Breeders’ Championship over older rivals at 1 1/16 miles. Man in the Can enters Sunday’s race off a 10th-place finish in an allowance sprint for Arkansas-breds on Dec. 12 at Oaklawn.
“You can throw that last race out completely because he nearly fell down in the race,” Moquett said of an incident that resulted in the disqualification of the winner.
“I need him to go out there and get a good trip. I need him to step it up and bring some of that old magic back.”
Man in the Can will move back to two turns Sunday.
“I think he likes it better,” Moquett said.
The horse has won at distances of up to 1 1/8 miles. He will break from post 7 and on the move back to two turns could sit closer to the pace than he did last out. Joel Rosario, who joined the local riding colony Friday, has the mount on Man in the Can.
“When you have Rosario on your horses, you just basically say, ‘Have a nice trip,’ ” Moquett said.
Man in the Can is a son of the Into Mischief stallion Can the Man. He races for his breeder, JRita Young Thoroughbreds, and Robert LaPenta.
K J’s Nobility is making a rare appearance around two turns. He is a winner at the configuration and last year ran second by a neck at going 1 1/16 miles in the Arkansas Breeders’ Championship at Oaklawn.
K J’s Nobility will be giving up recency to Man in the Can as this will be his first start since March. David Cabrera has the mount from post 4 for trainer Wes Hawley. Carson McCord owns K J’s Nobility, who is approaching career earnings of $500,000.
Sunday’s race could produce starters for both the $150,000 Nodouble, a six-furlong race for Arkansas-breds on March 5 at Oaklawn, and the $200,000 Arkansas Breeders’ Championship over 1 1/16 miles on May 7 at Oaklawn.
K J’s Nobility won the Nodouble in 2020.
◗ The Sunday card opens with a $50,000 starter allowance for 3-year-olds at a mile. The field includes Aquitania Arrival, who was second in the Zia Park Juvenile in November in New Mexico. Trainer Steve Asmussen will counter with the capable pair of Requisition and Long Crow.