Oaklawn: Whitmore will get Mike Smith for Southwest

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Ron Moquett said Oaklawn optional-claiming winner Whitmore has emerged from his Monday work in good order and is set for a start in the Southwest at Oaklawn. He said Mike Smith will have the mount Monday.

“We wanted Mike Smith because we won the race last year with him,” said Moquett.

Smith, who is based in Southern California, came in to ride Far Right in the Southwest last year.

Bird of Trey, a stakes winner coming off a fourth-place finish in last month’s Grade 3 Jerome at Aqueduct, will be ridden in the Southwest by Joshua Navarro, said Tyler Servis, assistant to his father, trainer John Servis.

Navarro was due in town Thursday to ride the Servis trainee Nasa in the allowance feature at Oaklawn. Bird of Trey races for JRita Young Thoroughbreds.