Midnight Storm has fine dirt form for Oaklawn Handicap

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Midnight Storm proved to be a top-class turf horse last year when he won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile. But his dirt form isn’t too shabby either, and on Saturday, he will be a short-priced favorite to win the Oaklawn meet’s premier race for older horses, the Grade 2, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap.

Midnight Storm enters off a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. He will face six others in the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap, one of four stakes on a card led by the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby. The program closes the season.

Midnight Storm is the 122-pound highweight against a field that includes Madefromlucky, a millionaire and the second highweight at 116; Domain’s Rap, who gets in at 115 after finishing second to Mor Spirit in last month’s Essex Handicap; and Texas Chrome, a multiple Grade 3 winner starting his season at 115.

Oaklawn Handicap (Race 9)

KEY CONTENDERS

Midnight Storm, by Pioneerof the Nile
Last 3 Beyers: 107-101-106

◗ He set the pace to the late stages of the Santa Anita Handicap, a 1 1/4-mile race March 11. Midnight Storm finished three-quarters of a length behind Shaman Ghost.

“I thought he ran a very valiant race against a top-class horse in Shaman Ghost,” said Phil D’Amato, who trains Midnight Storm. “He ran a very credible race. When Shaman Ghost got to him, he spurted out again.

“This horse just thrives on competition, every ounce of him. That’s how he trains. He wants his head out in front of anyone else.”

◗ That attitude has helped Midnight Storm build a career record of 10 wins from 22 starts. He has earned $1.6 million, and while $1.2 million of that total has come on grass, he is a multiple stakes winner on dirt. Midnight Storm won back-to-back stakes on dirt in Southern California – the Grade 3 Native Diver at Del Mar and the Grade 2 San Pasqual at Santa Anita – before advancing to the Santa Anita Handicap.

◗ Midnight Storm could control the pace after breaking from post 3 under Mike Smith.

“I definitely think he’ll be forwardly placed,” D’Amato said. “He does not have to have the lead. As good as he is now, he can sit second or third if someone wants to get suicidal on the lead.”

◗ Midnight Storm races for A Venneri Racing, Inc. and Little Red Feather Racing.

Madefromlucky, by Lookin At Lucky
Last 3 Beyers: 101-97-92

◗ He exits a third-place finish in the Essex, a 1 1/16-mile race that Mor Spirit won in a blazing 1:41.60. Madefromlucky will pick up more ground, and both of his Grade 2 wins, the Peter Pan and West Virginia Derby, came at this distance.

◗ Javier Castellano has the mount on Madefromlucky, who races for Cheyenne Stables and Mac Nichol and is trained by Todd Pletcher.

Domain’s Rap, by Cherokee Rap
Last 3 Beyers: 101-96-96

◗ The 9-year-old earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 101 last out, closing from next to last for second in the Essex.

◗ Ramon Vazquez has the mount on Domain’s Rap, who is 5 for 9 at Oaklawn for owner Danny Caldwell and trainer Federico Villafrano.