Oaklawn Park: Zip On long gone if track is fast

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Randy Morse is hoping for a fast track for his speedster Zip On, one of several contenders in a competitive seventh race Thursday at Oaklawn Park.

Zip On is part of an eight-horse field for the first-level, six-furlong allowance for 3-year-old fillies. Others set to start include Avicii, third at this level last month at Oaklawn; Sugar Shock, a razor-sharp maiden special weight winner here Jan. 20; and Daddy’s Memory, who can make an impact with a flashback to her 10 3/4-length maiden special weight win last fall at Churchill Downs.

Zip On will be returning to the overnight ranks after finishing fifth in the $100,000 Dixie Belle for 3-year-old fillies at Oaklawn on Jan. 10. She set the pace until late in the six-furlong race but bogged down on a sloppy, laboring kind of racetrack.

“That was opening day, and you couldn’t win on the lead,” Morse said. “The middle of the turn, I didn’t think she could lose. The way the racetrack turned out, all day none of them could win on the lead.”

Zip On was a maiden special weight winner at Kentucky Downs in September. She will break from post 7 on Thursday, and is the one to catch under Francisco Torres.

“She’s so quick leaving the gate,” Morse said. “She just does it so easy. Watching her races, she just goes to the lead like nothing. As far as just natural speed, she’s ridiculously fast.”

Zip On, a daughter of City Zip, is owned by the Iron Horse Racing operation of Arkansas resident Dave Clark.

Avicii has a stalking style, and can take advantage were Zip On to be pushed along by a rival like Sugar Shock, who covered six furlongs in 1:10.92 in her maiden win. Israel Ocampo has the mount on Avicii, while Channing Hill will ride Sugar Shock.

The card also includes a second-level optional $40,000 claiming route in which Jack’s the Won will be seeking his fifth straight win and Mr Num Num will attempt to make it four in a row. The field of 12 in race 8 also includes Flattermejim, who is 5 for 6 at Oaklawn; Carve, the runner-up in the $200,360 Zia Park Derby who will be making his first start against older horses; and Moshaagib, a full brother to multiple Grade 2 winner Casino Host.