Man in the Can, Tempt Fate square off in allowance

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Ry Eikleberry knows how to make an entrance.

The veteran rider will have his first Oaklawn Park mounts Sunday, and they include Man in the Can, the 2020 Arkansas-bred horse of the year. He could go favored in the featured eighth race. It’s a 1 1/16-mile money allowance for 3-year-olds and up bred in Arkansas and a stepping-stone to the $200,000 Arkansas Breeders Championship on May 7.

Eikleberry on Thursday was battling for the title at the Sam Houston Race Park meet, which was to end Saturday. He will be spending the next few weeks at Oaklawn, agent Jose Santos Jr. said.

“He’s staying until opening day at Lone Star, other than April 16 when he goes to Evangeline for a stakes,” Santos said Thursday. “His last day will be April 24.”

Lone Star Park opens April 28.

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Man in the Can is part of a field of eight that includes Tempt Fate, the 2021 Arkansas-bred of the year. Man in the Can is looking for his second straight win at the meet following an allowance at this same distance Jan. 16. He set the pace and won off by 7 1/2 lengths, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 79 he earned is one of the best last-race numbers in the field Sunday. Ron Moquett trains Man in the Can for JRita Young Thoroughbreds and Robert LaPenta.

Tempt Fate, who won last year’s Arkansas Breeders Championship, is making a rare start around two turns. He boasts a 6-for-11 record at Oaklawn, all for Jerry Caroom and trainer Carl Deville. Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount from post 7.

Man in the Can and Tempt Fate will both be honored for their Arkansas-bred of the year titles Friday night, April 15, at the Oaklawn Event Center. The Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Horsemen’s Association is putting on its banquet for the first time in two years due to the pandemic. It will honor Arkansas-bred leaders from multiple years, longtime executive secretary Deana Echols said.

Michael Blowen of Old Friends Farm will be the keynote speaker, Echols said.

“We needed something uplifting,” she said.

Tempt Fate’s sire, Hamazing Destiny, will be honored as Arkansas’s stallion of the year for 2021. Tempt Fate’s dam, Naughty Sister, is the broodmare of the year. She is owned by Joni Butzow and Cynthia Robertson, who are the breeders of Tempt Fate. Echols said the breeder of the year for 2021 is McDowell Farm.

As for Eikleberry, his other Sunday mounts at Oaklawn include the Moquett-trained Swift Tap, who goes in a first-level allowance for 3-year-olds at six furlongs. The fourth race has a $100,000 claiming option that will be used by Swift Tap.

Trainer Steve Asmussen, who won four races Thursday at Oaklawn, will counter with Charco and Cairama. Jockey Ramon Vazquez rode the four winners on his final regular day at Oaklawn as he is now based at Santa Anita.

◗ Oaklawn’s schedule will shift for the final stretch of the meet. The track races Friday and Saturday, April 15-16, and will be closed for Easter. Oaklawn then reverts to a Friday-through-Sunday schedule through the close of the meet on May 8.

◗ Jockey David Cabrera, who leads the standings at Oaklawn, will ride here through the close of the meet, Santos said. Cabrera is scheduled to compete on the opening-night card at Lone Star, where he will base after Oaklawn.