Night Ops faces tough group in Sunday allowance

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Night Ops and jockey Joe Talamo have their work cut out for them Sunday, when they start from post 11 in the featured eighth race at Oaklawn Park.

The 1 1/16-mile allowance carries an optional-claiming price of $80,000. It drew six stakes winners, including Grade 3 winners Lombo, Plainsman, and Sky Promise.

“It’s a solid race on paper,” said Brad Cox, who trains Night Ops. “I think we’ve got to get a good trip from that outside.”

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KEY CONTENDERS

Night Ops, by Warrior’s Reward

Last 3 Beyers: 93-92-88

◗ Night Ops is moving back into the overnight ranks off a third-place finish in a division of the $100,000 Fifth Season, a one-mile race Jan. 25 at Oaklawn. He was beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Guest Suite, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 93 that he earned is one of the best last-race numbers in the field Sunday.

“He likes Oaklawn,” Cox said. “He ran well there last year, and his race a couple weeks ago I thought was a pretty solid race considering he hadn’t run since November.”

◗ Night Ops will be picking up more ground, returning to the distance of his last win Nov. 10 at Churchill Downs. In that race, he defeated Pirate’s Punch, who returned in his next start to win a Fair Grounds allowance by more than 11 lengths, with a Beyer Figure of 102.

“I believe he’s better at a mile and a sixteenth than a mile,” Cox said of Night Ops.

◗ Arkansas resident Steve Landers owns Night Ops, who was third in the Ellis Park Derby in August and second by a neck in last year’s $300,000 Oaklawn Invitational in May.

Laughing Fox, by Union Rags

Last 3 Beyers: 94-91-93

◗ He won the inaugural Oaklawn Invitational last year for Arkansas residents Alex and JoAnn Lieblong and earned a berth in the Preakness. Laughing Fox closed for fifth, finishing 3 3/4 lengths behind winner War of Will.

◗ Laughing Fox will be making his first start since Aug. 24, when he ran ninth in the Travers, beaten nine lengths by Code of Honor. The race has produced four next-out winners.

◗ Ricardo Santana, Jr. has the mount from post 2 for trainer Steve Asmussen.

C Z Rocket, by City Zip

Last 3 Beyers: 62-104-92

◗ He’s back in the overnight ranks for Arkansas resident Frank Fletcher, and the last time he ran against such foes he popped a career-high Beyer Figure of 104 for a runner-up finish in a 1 1/16 mile allowance at Churchill Downs. The winner of that race, Pioneer Spirit, has since won stakes at Fair Grounds and Oaklawn.

◗ Calvin Borel has the mount from post 3 for trainer Al Stall Jr.