Oaklawn Stakes might end up showdown between Asmussen and Cox

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainers Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox could have multiple starters in the $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes on Saturday.

Asmussen said Monday that Basin, Gold Street, and Shoplifted are all on deck for the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn Park, while Cox said he had two possible runners in Shared Sense and Something Natural.

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The trainers finished one-two in last year’s race, when it was introduced as the Oaklawn Invitational and run in May. Asmussen trainee Laughing Fox was a neck winner over Cox trainee Night Ops.

This meet, the race swapped dates with the Arkansas Derby after the coronavirus pandemic led Churchill Downs to reschedule the Kentucky Derby for Sept. 5.

Oaklawn made the invitational a stakes for this year due to the shorter turnaround time. The race will again carry a berth into the Preakness Stakes, according to Pimlico spokesman David Joseph. Last year, Laughing Fox took advantage of the berth and ran a close fifth in the Preakness.

Asmussen’s intended starters Saturday are all stakes winners. Basin, who captured last year’s Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, was third in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn in his 3-year-old debut on March 14. Gold Street won the Smarty Jones here in January, and Shoplifted captured the $400,000 Springboard Mile in December at Remington Park.

Cox’s potential starters have both won allowances this meet at Oaklawn. Something Natural is coming off a third-place finish in the $100,000 Rushaway last month at Turfway.

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The Oaklawn Stakes will share a card with the $150,000 Oaklawn Mile for 4-year-olds and up. Asmussen said Bankit, Boldor, and Snapper Sinclair are pointing to the Oaklawn Mile, while Cox said M G Warrior is under consideration for the race.

The races signal the start of a run of major stakes at Oaklawn. In the past, the track’s Racing Festival of the South would have started Friday with the running of the Grade 3 Fantasy. But a number of stakes have been rescheduled, with the Fantasy, a prep for the rescheduled Kentucky Oaks, to now be run May 1.

The Grade 3, $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap will now share a card with the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom on April 18, while the Grade 1, $750,000 Arkansas Derby and Grade 2, $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap are May 2.