Midnight Storm on deck for Oaklawn Handicap

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Midnight Storm, the runner-up in last month’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, will target the Grade 2, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday. Trainer Phil D’Amato said the horse emerged from a work last Friday in excellent condition and was scheduled to fly from Southern California to Arkansas on Tuesday.

“He just hasn’t missed a beat,” D’Amato said Monday. “He’s training so well right now. He’s just full of himself. It’s all systems go, is basically what he’s telling me, so we’re going to head on out.”

Mike Smith has the mount, said D’Amato. Smith won the Grade 3 Native Diver on Midnight Storm in November at Del Mar.

Midnight Storm is the 122-pound highweight for the Oaklawn Handicap, which will be run over 1 1/8 miles. The weights were released Sunday. The next-highest impost in the expected field belongs to Accelerate at 119.

Midnight Storm is a Grade 1 winner and an earner $1.6 million owned by A. Venneri Racing and Little Red Feather Racing.

◗ I’m the Reason, a 4-year-old filly out of the champion Blind Luck, is scheduled to make her career debut in the 10th race Thursday at Oaklawn. She is the first foal from Blind Luck, according to Daily Racing Form records. I’m the Reason is by Bernardini. She was bred by her owner, Mark Dedomenico, and is trained by Jack Van Berg.

◗ The Arkansas Racetrack Chaplaincy will auction off a Churchill Downs box for this year’s Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby during its annual banquet Thursday night. For details, call (405) 388-9026.