Oaklawn Handicap lures shippers from coast to coast

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Skippylongstocking leads a barrage of Florida shippers in the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday, a race that also drew Reincarnate and Highland Falls out of the Santa Anita Handicap and Red Route One off a win in the New Orleans Classic.

It’s a strong mix of older runners for the fourth and final seven-figure race of the meet. The Oaklawn Handicap, which will be run over 1 1/8 miles, tops a 12-race card.

Skippylongstocking is the 122-pound highweight in an 11-horse field that drew fellow Gulfstream Park starters Instant Coffee, Octane, and County Final. Skippylongstocking is coming off a win in the Grade 3 Challenger for the second year in a row at Tampa Bay Downs. A Grade 2 winner who has earned $1.6 million, Skippylongstocking will be making his first start at Oaklawn.

“He’s kind of carried his track,” said trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. “He’s run well all over – Santa Anita, Prairie Meadows, Charles Town, Tampa, Gulfstream. He ships well most of the time, and we hope he does so again this time.”

Joseph said there were a number of reasons to target the Oaklawn with Skippylongstocking, who will break from post 10 under Jose Ortiz.

“It’s a huge purse,” he said. “And looking at the weather, it looked like it might rain. He’s 2 for 2 in the slop, so we knew that if it rains, the slop’s not going to hurt his chances. It may increase his chances. And, this race was just good timing.”

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Instant Coffee enters off a third-place finish in a February allowance at Gulfstream. It was his first start since a sixth-place finish in last year’s Louisiana Derby. He won the Lecomte at Fair Grounds prior to the Louisiana Derby. The Lecomte win came after he concluded his 2022 campaign with a win in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs.

“I’ve had the horse for about a month and a half,” said trainer Jose D’Angelo said. “He arrived very well to the barn. He’s a very classy horse.”

Cristian Torres has the mount from post 11.

“He’s a horse that needs to come from off the pace,” D’Angelo said. “His last race in Gulfstream was good because he was coming from the layoff, and also, Gulfstream can be a tough track to come from off the pace. You need everything to go in your favor, good speed in front, a fast pace. If you go wide in the turns, it’s no good.”

Highland Falls also figures to be making his case from off the pace after breaking from the rail under jockey Florent Geroux. He was fourth in the Santa Anita Handicap, a 1 1/4-mile race March 3.

“It was a good race, not a lot of pace, and he finished up decent,” said trainer Brad Cox. “He probably needs a little bit more pace to run at.”

Highland Falls, whose sire and dam, Curlin and Round Pond, both won major stakes at Oaklawn, might get a better tempo to chase on the cutback in distance Saturday.

“They’ll probably go a little quicker,” Cox said. “A larger field as well. That normally means a little bit more pace. It doesn’t always mean that, but hopefully there will be some horses running in front of him he can run down.”

Cox won the meet’s first seven-figure race in February, the $1.25 million Rebel with Timberlake. Bob Baffert, who trains Reincarnate, is looking for his third seven-figure win at the meet after taking the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby with Muth and the $1.25 million Apple Blossom with Adare Manor. Reincarnate was third in the Santa Anita Handicap in his first start at 4.

“He ran a big race off the layoff in the Big Cap,” Baffert said. “He shows up every time. I think it’s a good spot. There was a spot [at Santa Anita] for him, the Californian, that’s a prep for the [Hollywood Gold Cup], but I think he’s ready. I think he’ll fit with those horses. It’s going to be tough, but he’s doing pretty well.”

Red Route One owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, a 101 for his two-length victory in the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic.

“It was a very good win,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “We’ve been thinking about this race for a long time. He’s had success at Oaklawn. He’s had success at a mile and an eighth. And he’s a very good horse.”

Joel Rosario has the mount for Winchell Thoroughbreds.

County Final won an overnight handicap in January, going two turns on Tapeta at Gulfstream.

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“We claimed him out of a five-furlong race,” Joseph said. “It took us a while to figure him out, and actually he’s run well for us going longer. So, he’s never gone long on the dirt, but as we started to stretch him out, he ran well on the Tapeta.”

Joseph said a big factor in his decision to try the Oaklawn Handicap was that County Final ran well at Oaklawn earlier in his career.

Octane won the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap over Magic Tap in February at Oaklawn. Last Samurai won this race in 2022. Double Crown is a five-time stakes winner and Guntown is a half-brother to champion Untapable.

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