Oaklawn: Caleb's Posse has travel plans set

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Caleb’s Posse, the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner based at Oaklawn Park, is scheduled to fly out Tuesday for a start in the Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool at Aqueduct, said his trainer, Donnie Von Hemel. The race is Saturday, March 3.

Caleb’s Posse will fly out of Memphis, Tenn., into New York, said Von Hemel. It is about a three-hour van ride from Oaklawn to Memphis. The Tom Fool will be the first start since the Breeders’ Cup for Caleb’s Posse, who was a finalist for champion 3-year-old and champion sprinter of 2011.

Caleb’s Posse last worked on Feb. 19, breezing a half-mile in 48 seconds. Von Hemel said Friday he is debating whether the horse would work one more time before leaving for New York. He said Caleb’s Posse has advanced nicely in his training at Oaklawn.

“It’s always good to get a horse like him back in action,” said Von Hemel.

Rajiv Maragh, who guided Caleb’s Posse to wins in the BC Dirt Mile as well as the Grade 1 King’s Bishop, has the mount in the Tom Fool. The six-furlong race will be run on Aqueduct’s inner track and is positioned as a prep for the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter, a seven-furlong race run on the main track at Aqueduct on April 7.

Von Hemel’s other top older horse, Alternation, breezed five furlongs in a bullet 59.40 seconds at Oaklawn on Friday. There is no decision yet on his next start, said Von Hemel. The options include the $150,000 Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston on Saturday night, March 3, and the Grade 3, $125,000 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn on March 10.

Riley Tucker eyes Hot Springs

Riley Tucker, the winner of last month’s $50,000 King Cotton at Oaklawn, is now being pointed for the next sprint stakes in the series, the $75,000 Hot Springs, said his trainer, Steve Asmussen. The six-furlong race will be run March 24.

Riley Tucker, a Grade 3 winner of more than $600,000, races for Zayat Stables.

Oaklawn ran an allowance prep for the Hot Springs on Thursday, and Agastache edged Hamazing Destiny by a head and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 93. Agastache covered six furlongs in 1:10.17. He races for the partnership of Houghlin and Broaddus and is trained by Rick Hiles.

◗ Asmussen said Lake Victor, a winner of his last two starts at Fair Grounds, is being pointed for the $60,000 Gazebo for 3-year-olds at six furlongs at Oaklawn on Saturday, March 3.