Oaklawn Park: On Fire Baby prepped and ready for Apple Blossom

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – On Fire Baby appears to have more in her favor coming into Friday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park than she did last season, when she won the race off an 11-month layoff. This year, On Fire Baby will have the benefit of a start under her belt when she breaks from post 4 in the field of five fillies and mares. Entries for the 1 1/16-mile race were taken Wednesday.

The Apple Blossom, which along with the Arkansas Derby is one of the region’s two Grade 1 races, continues Oaklawn’s annual Racing Festival of the South. The top choices Friday figure to be Close Hatches, the 121-pound highweight who drew the rail, and Let Faith Arise, a Grade 1 winner last out at Santa Anita who will break from post 5.

On Fire Baby last raced March 15, finishing fourth to Close Hatches in the Grade 2, $200,000 Azeri at Oaklawn. The race was On Fire Baby’s first start in about five months, and she pushed the pace before finishing 2 1/4 lengths behind the winner. Since the start, On Fire Baby has worked sharply, her latest move five furlongs in a near-bullet 1:00.80 on Saturday.

“She’s a whole lot more aggressive coming into this race,” said Gary Hartlage, who trains On Fire Baby for her breeder, Anita Cauley. “The first race back, I didn’t put the hammer down on her that hard. I know it’s going to be a tough race [Friday], but I feel a lot more confident going into it than I did the Azeri.”

Joe Johnson has the mount on On Fire Baby.

The complete Apple Blossom field from the rail with riders is: Close Hatches, Joel Rosario; Rose to Gold, Calvin Borel; Stanwyck, Gary Stevens; On Fire Baby; and Let Faith Arise, Corey Nakatani.

The race will go as the 10th on an 11-race card, with an approximate post of 6:12 p.m. Central. The program also includes the $100,000 Bachelor, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds that drew 11.

Forecasts are calling for partly cloudy skies and highs in the mid-70s on Friday, according to The Weather Channel. HRTV is scheduled to be onsite Friday and Saturday, according to Oaklawn spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyt.