Shotgun Kowboy pointed to Razorback Handicap

Shotgun Kowboy ran a bang-up race last Friday at Oaklawn in his first start since August and is now being pointed to the track’s Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap on Feb. 20, trainer C.R. Trout said. Shotgun Kowboy set the pace in his comeback, a 1 1/16-mile allowance, then battled for a neck win.

“That was a hard-fought stretch drive,” Trout said.

Shotgun Kowboy earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 90 for that effort and went over $800,000 in career earnings. Trout said the horse emerged from the race in good order, and he looks forward to another shot at the Razorback, a race in which Shotgun Kowboy ran fourth last year.

“I think he’ll run better this time,” Trout said. “He needed the race [last year]. This race will help him a bunch.”

Shotgun Kowboy, 5, won the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby in 2015. Trout is also the breeder and owner of the horse, who last year was second in a trio of Grade 3 races – the Texas Mile, Lone Star Park Handicap, and Cornhusker.

The Razorback, which has been slotted earlier in the meet this year and had its purse boosted from $350,000, will share a card with the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes. That race may also have picked up a starter off last Friday’s card at Oaklawn. Chief Know It All won an allowance right after Shotgun Kowboy and will be nominated to the Southwest as well as the Risen Star at Fair Grounds, trainer Brad Cox said.

Chief Know It All’s win flattered Guest Suite, the recent winner of the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds. Chief Know It All had finished third to Guest Suite in a Churchill allowance before making his two-turn debut last Friday. He was always prominent for a two-length victory under Joe Rocco Jr.

“I didn’t really know how the pace scenario was going to play out,” Cox said. “I thought there would be a little bit of speed in there, and there was. Rocco and I had talked about it, and it looked like in the earlier route races, speed was pretty good, so we decided to put him in the race, and he responded well.”

Cox said the manner in which Chief Know It All handled the Oaklawn surface might make the Southwest a strong option if he goes back in a stakes. He earned a career-high 78 Beyer.