Mr. Z working to keep straight path in Southwest

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mr. Z appeared on his way to winning last month’s $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park until he drifted out sharply in the stretch and ended up third, as Far Right rolled up the rail to claim the first local prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby.

D. Wayne Lukas, who trains Mr. Z, is looking forward to the rematch Monday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest Stakes. Far Right and Mr. Z were among 12 horses entered Friday in the 1 1/16-mile race, with War Story, who drew post 11, scheduled to scratch. The Southwest Stakes continues Oaklawn’s series for 3-year-olds and offers its winner 10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

Mr. Z, who drew post 10, was favored in the Smarty Jones Stakes after finishing third by a head in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity, won by Dortmund. Lukas on Friday was diplomatic about the Smarty Jones drifting incident Jan. 19.

“When that happened, it stunned me,” he said. “It was one of those unpredictable things in racing, and it probably cost us the race. This horse is very talented. When he comes with his ‘A’ game, he’s tough. I’ve been around some good horses. This is a nice horse. On a given day, he’d beat anybody.”

Following the Smarty Jones, Lukas approached Mr. Z’s training in a variety of ways at the horse’s base of Oaklawn.

“We put him in different situations,” Lukas said. “Since that race, we’ve sent him up the rail. We’ve sent him around horses. We’ve put him behind horses, inside horses, outside horses. We’ve also tried a series of bits to make sure that we had more power steering.”

Lukas said he will change bits with Mr. Z to give the horse’s rider more control in the Southwest. Corey Nakatani will be aboard Mr. Z for the first time, taking over from Jon Court. Mr. Z’s final work for the race was Wednesday, and he breezed a half-mile in 49.20 seconds.

“His work the other day was by himself, but it was sensational,” Lukas said. “He came home [his final quarter] in 22 [seconds] and change, and the way he did it, he didn’t deviate an inch. The thing is we did some different things, and he has responded beautifully this month. I’m very optimistic.”

Mr. Z, a son of Malibu Moon, races for Zayat Stables.

Far Right drew post 2 for the Southwest and will be seeking his second straight stakes win. Mike Smith has the mount for trainer Ron Moquett.

The field, from the rail with riders, is J S Bach, John Velazquez; Far Right, Smith; Private Prospect, Alex Birzer; Bayerd, Ramon Vazquez; The Truth Or Else, Calvin Borel; Kantune, Shaun Bridgmohan; Phenomenal Phoenix, Cliff Berry; Majestico, Terry Thompson; Bold Conquest, Ricardo Santana Jr.; Mr. Z, Nakatani; War Story, Joe Talamo; and Bold Animaux, Israel Ocampo.

The Truth Or Else will get Lasix for the first time in the Southwest for trainer Ken McPeek, while Phenomenal Phoenix will add blinkers for trainer Donnie Von Hemel.

The Southwest will go as the ninth race on a 10-race card that starts at 1 p.m. Central. Post time for the Southwest is 5:09.

The forecast for Monday is a high of 39 degrees, with ice in the morning followed by a 70 percent chance of precipitation, according to a Weather Channel report Friday. Oaklawn officials have been monitoring four different forecasts and expect to race Monday, said director of racing David Longinotti.

“The farther out the forecast, the less accurate it is,” Longinotti said Friday. “We have every intention of racing through the weekend, including the holiday Monday.”

War Story, who had shipped to Oaklawn from Fair Grounds to prepare for the Southwest, was to ship back to New Orleans on Saturday morning and point for the Risen Star, according to trainer Tom Amoss.

– additional reporting by Marcus Hersh