Scarred, Warrant seek Preakness berths in Oaklawn Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park will close its meet Saturday the same way the season opened – with a race that could produce starters for the Triple Crown.

The $300,000 Oaklawn Stakes for 3-year-olds might reward its winner with a Preakness berth, three months after the Smarty Jones in January awarded points for the Kentucky Derby.

A field of seven has been entered for Saturday’s race at 1 1/8 miles. The berth is reserved for those nominated to the Triple Crown, and there are two such horses in the field, Scarred and Warrant.

Scarred comes off a local allowance win at a mile, a March 25 race in which he was with the pace on a good track and went on to a 1 1/4-length win. Scarred earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 84.

“I think that he’s a horse that was pretty affected by the weather, the 11 days in missed training,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of a storm system in February. “He got a lot out of his last race, [which] is indicative of the talent that he has. It will take a small step forward for him to be a player in the major 3-year-old races.”

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David Cabrera has the mount from the rail for Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Madaket Stables, and Spendthrift Farm.

Warrant will be making his two-turn debut following a runner-up finish in a first-level allowance over seven furlongs on April 3 at Keeneland. Fernando De La Cruz has the mount from post 5 for Twin Creek Racing Stables and Brad Cox.

Cox also sends out Fulsome, who could go favored off a first-level allowance win at Keeneland for which he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 90. It’s the best career number in the Oaklawn Stakes. The 1 1/16-mile race on April 10 was the first on dirt for Fulsome, who like Scarred is a son of Into Mischief. Martin Garcia has the mount from post 4 for Juddmonte Farms.

The Oaklawn goes as the 11th race on a 12-race program that starts at noon Central. The infield is scheduled to be open with a forecast for partly cloudy skies and highs in the 70s.

The meet closes with the Trail’s End, a starter allowance over 1 3/4 miles. Darren’s Fortune carries both top weight of 128 pounds and the hopes of the racing community in Canada.

He’s named in honor of Darren Fortune, an exercise rider and outrider who died in a morning training accident several years ago, according to Ontario-based racetrack chaplain Shawn Kennedy. He said trainer Nick Gonzalez and his wife, Martha, bought Darren’s Fortune as a yearling and named him for Fortune.

Darren’s Fortune, who has been claimed a few times, won three straight marathon races from last November to March for owner Sam Almaraz and trainer Tom Van Berg, who still own and train the horse. The wins came by a combined margin of 41 1/2 lengths.

In his last race, Darren’s Fortune finished second over 1 1/8 miles on April 11. He cut back in distance because a marathon race did not fill, Van Berg said.

“I really think that it’s proven to be his forte, going further, a mile and a half, a mile and three-quarters,” Van Berg said. “We’re looking forward to getting back to it. The only part that scares me is that he carries 128 pounds – that’s going back to the old-school horses. You don’t see that very often these days.”