Offolter finds good spot for Faith Alone in rare Oaklawn start

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Joe Offolter will have a rare Oaklawn Park starter on Sunday, when he saddles Faith Alone in the eighth race.

The first-level allowance for fillies and mares will be run at a mile. The race ends at the sixteenth pole. The feature drew 12.

Offolter has long been based in Oklahoma and is gearing up for the Will Rogers Downs season that starts March 4. It’s been some time since he last ran a horse in Arkansas.

“It was about three or four years ago,” Offolter said. “I don’t like to come over unless I think I’ve got a shot.

“She’s doing good, and I just thought it sure looks like conditions-wise she should fit in there.”

Faith Alone is a three-time winner and one of two stakes-placed runners in the field, alongside Lady Jae. Xylophone could go favored off a recent starter allowance win for which she earned a standout Beyer Speed Figure of 85. Others who will get support include Bow Draw and Malibu Smart.

Faith Alone last raced Dec. 15 at Remington Park and finished second in the $75,000 She’s All In Stakes. She was beaten 2 1/4 lengths in the mud and earned a Beyer of 72.

“I thought she ran a really good race,” Offolter said. “I wish she wouldn’t have got trapped on the inside. She kind of got stuck inside. The [winner] got an easy lead. We just couldn’t get to her.”

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Faith Alone was racing over a mile and 70 yards last out, similar to the mile distance of her last win Nov. 21 at Remington. It came in a conditioned allowance and after wiring the field she earned a career-high Beyer of 78.

Faith Alone is a daughter of Liam’s Map and the multiple stakes-placed mare Bitty Kitty, who earned more than $250,000. Cristian Torres, who has a double-digit lead in the rider standings, has the mount from post 10 for Chasing The Wind Racing.

“She’ll be up close to the front end,” Offolter said. “She doesn’t have to be on the lead. Hopefully, she gets away good and has a good trip.”

Malibu Smart will be employing the opposite tactics when she starts from post 3 under Rafael Bejarano. She is coming off a third-place finish at this level Jan. 27.

“She’s pace-dependent,” trainer Chris Hartman said. “We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.”

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Xylophone closed from off the pace to win a $12,500 starter allowance at Fair Grounds in her last start Dec. 2. The race has since become a key one, with the seventh- and eighth-place finishers both returning to win in their next starts. Xylophone will start from post 4. Chel-c Bailey has the mount for trainer Burl McBride.

Bow Draw was second at this level Jan. 27 at Oaklawn. Lady Jae was second in last year’s Grade 3 Las Cienegas at Santa Anita.

◗ Oaklawn will race an additional day this week, on the holiday Monday.

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