Mr. Jagermeister adds punch to Hot Springs Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Oaklawn Park sprint division led by Share the Upside and Whitmore has picked up a new player for the $150,000 Hot Springs Stakes on Saturday.

Mr. Jagermeister has joined the fray for the six-furlong race, which serves as the final stepping-stone to the meet’s Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on April 11. The Hot Springs shares a card with the Grade 3, $300,000 Honeybee.

Share the Upside and Whitmore also are in the Hot Springs. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Share the Upside won last month’s King Cotton over Whitmore, earning the highest Beyer Speed Figure of the meet, a 104. Whitmore, trained by Ron Moquett, tries to win the Hot Springs for the fourth straight year. Also in the six-horse field are stakes winners Wendell Fong and Boldor.

“You cannot run for that kind of money without hitting some really fast horses,” said Valorie Lund, who co-owns and trains Mr. Jagermeister.

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Mr. Jagermeister won his eighth stakes last out in the Phoenix Gold Cup on Feb. 8 at Turf Paradise, defeating a field that included Grade 3 winner Chief Cicatriz. He has since settled in at Oaklawn and is part of a seven-horse string Lund has brought to town. The division includes a full 3-year-old sister to Mr. Jagermeister named Rumpleminx. The Hot Springs has been a target for Mr. Jagermeister for a couple of reasons, Lund said Wednesday.

“We’ve been here before, run twice here at Oaklawn, and he’s run very well,” she said. “When he was a 3-year-old he ran second in a stakes here and the horse who won it was Mitole. We brought him back last year looking for a spot and he won very handily, so we know he likes the surface. And quite frankly, the timing is just right for us to give it a try again.”

Mr. Jagermeister has won most of his races on the front end, but he came from off the pace in the Phoenix Gold Cup, earning one of his best Beyer Figures, a 97.

“We think that maybe he’s starting to relax a little,” Lund said. “He stumbled, lost his hind end, and was able to sit comfortably and we were encouraged by that.”

Mr. Jagermeister will break from post 2 under regular rider Leandro Goncalves.

“I don’t especially like being down in the two hole,” Lund said. “I’d be a lot more comfortable if we were outside, because horses relax better from the outside.”

Lund owns Mr. Jagermeister with her sisters, breeder Kristin Boice and Leslie Cummings.

Richard Santana Jr. has the mount on Share the Upside from post 4, while Joe Talamo will be aboard Whitmore from post 3.