By My Standards ends layoff with nose victory in Oaklawn Mile

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - By My Standards started his 5-year-old season on a high note Saturday at Oaklawn Park when he won a tight photo over Rushie to capture the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile and go over $2 million in career earnings.

The official winning margin was a nose. Wells Bayou finished third, 2 1/2 lengths behind Rushie.

By My Standards was making his first start since November. The race also came at a distance his trainer, Bret Calhoun, had said was less than optimum for him, but the right fit off the layoff. The stakes also ended at the sixteenth pole, as with all mile races at Oaklawn.

“He’s all heart,” trainer Bret Calhoun said in a post-race interview broadcast by Oaklawn.

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By My Standards is a four-time Grade 2 winner, and three of those races have come over 1 1/8 miles. They include last year’s Oaklawn Handicap. Calhoun said a later start getting By My Standards ready for the races led him to opt for the Oaklawn Mile over the longer Oaklawn Handicap, which will be run here next Saturday.

By My Standards ($6.80) settled in fourth in the early stages Saturday, racing three wide around the first turn as Pioneer Spirit took the field through fractions of 23.21 seconds for the opening quarter, 47.82 for the half-mile and 1:12.68 for six furlongs. By My Standards came into the stretch four wide and rallied in the stretch, covering the distance in 1:37.82 and earning a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

“When we turned for home, my horse just left them and kicked in the extra gear I was expecting from him,” winning rider Gabe Saez told publicity at Oaklawn. “Luckily, we got there.”

By My Standards is a son of Goldencents. He races for Allied Racing Stable and Spendthrift Farm, who bought into the horse ahead of the Oaklawn Mile.

By My Standards has now won 7 of 15 starts and has earned $2,069,430.

The Oaklawn Mile was one of three stakes supporting the Arkansas Derby.