Mystik Dan looks sharp in workout, will start in Lake Ouachita Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan is scheduled to make his next start in the $200,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes at Oaklawn Park after turning in a sharp work Sunday morning, trainer Kenny McPeek said.

The Lake Ouachita is a 1 1/16-mile race for 4-year-olds and up and will be run on Kentucky Derby Day, May 3. It’s the final card of the meet at Oaklawn. Last year, Mystik Dan spent the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs, winning the Kentucky Derby for McPeek and an ownership group based in Arkansas.

The Lake Ouachita will be the first start since Jan. 25 for Mystik Dan, who pushed the pace and finished an uncharacteristic ninth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park.

In his work Sunday morning, Mystik Dan breezed five-eighths in 1:00.40. The track was fast. Mystik Dan’s work was the second fastest of 21 at the distance as of late morning Sunday. It was the third local work for Mystik Dan since he shipped to Oaklawn, where McPeek has a division, after wintering at Fair Grounds.

Last year, Mystik Dan won the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn.

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