Speed vs. speed in Count Fleet

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Speed is the game Thursday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap, with Ivan Fallunovalot and Gentlemen’s Bet each having put up a 108 Beyer Speed Figure during the Oaklawn meet. Their quickness, plus the participation of Grade 3 winners Speechify and Unbridled’s Note and seven-time stakes winner Alsvid, has set the stage for what could be a blazing 42nd renewal of the Count Fleet.

“It should be one of the fastest times of the meet, run by one of the fastest horses,” said Ron Moquett, who trains Gentlemen’s Bet. “I’m hoping we’re doing both of those, if everything works out well.”

The Count Fleet, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up, continues the $3.3 million Racing Festival of the South. During the series, Oaklawn cards at least one major stakes a day over its final week of the meet, which closes Saturday with the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby.

Count Fleet Sprint H. (Race 8)

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KEY CONTENDERS

Ivan Fallunovalot (Last 3 Beyers: 105-105-108)

◗ He will be out to turn the tables on Gentlemen’s Bet after finishing second to that one in the $100,000 Hot Springs Stakes in his most recent start March 7. Ivan Fallunovalot was pushed through a torrid pace at 3-5, one race after winning the $100,000 King Cotton at Oaklawn.

“We inherited the lead last time, which we didn’t want,” said Tom Howard, who trains Ivan Fallunovalot for Lewis Matthews Jr. “Our game plan was shot the first two jumps. We weren’t expecting to be on the lead, and really, it kind of threw us off our game. We’re hoping there will be several horses in this race to have it set up right.”

◗ Ivan Fallunovalot won the King Cotton from a tracking position in his second start of the year Feb. 7. In his season debut, he earned a career-high 108 Beyer for a front-running allowance score Jan. 22 at Oaklawn.

◗ Howard said Ivan Fallunovalot has thrived leading up to the Count Fleet, particularly since the winter weather that had interrupted training seems to have left Hot Springs.

“I think he’s better than he’s been since we’ve been here because we’ve got to train him more consistently and on a regular schedule,” Howard said. “The weather has helped us a little bit by breaking up.”

◗ Calvin Borel has the mount from post 6 in the field of eight.

Gentlemen’s Bet (Last 3 Beyers: 108-89-94)

◗ He earned a career-high 108 Beyer in the Hot Springs, his second race back following a third-place finish to Secret Circle in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“I believe he has room to move forward,” said Moquett, who trains Gentlemen’s Bet for Harry Rosenblum and has given the mount to Mike Smith.