Talented field of nine to contest Smarty Jones

The graded stakes winners Nucky and Silver Prospector are part of a nine-horse field for the $150,000 Smarty Jones, a one-mile race that opens the Oaklawn Park meet Jan. 24 and doles out eligibility points for the Kentucky Derby.

Oaklawn, which is located in Hot Springs, Ark., will race for 57 dates through May 2.

The fields for the opener were drawn Friday, with 101 horses entered in nine races. First post is 12:35 p.m. Central. The early forecast calls for a high of 50 degrees, with a 40 percent chance of morning showers.

The makeup of the Smarty Jones reflects the diversity of new faces in town to chase record purses. Three Technique makes his stakes debut for trainer Jeremiah Englehart, the New York-based horseman who for the first time has an Oaklawn division. Irad Ortiz Jr., who was aboard the horse for a first-level allowance win Nov. 20 at Aqueduct, is in to ride for August Dawn Farm. Three Technique will break from post 9.

“I think he’s pretty much been able to do about anything, lay close, come from behind,” Englehart said before the draw Friday.

Jockey Joe Talamo, who has moved his tack to Oaklawn after long being based in Southern California, will ride Nucky for trainer Peter Miller. The horse won last year’s Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity.

Steve Asmussen, who is an Oaklawn staple with 10 local titles in Hot Springs, has four stakes winners in the field led by Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes winner Silver Prospector. Ricardo Santana Jr., has the mount on the horse, who will break from post 2.

Asmussen’s other starters are Shoplifted, the winner of the $400,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park, who will break from post 7 under Tyler Gaffalione, Jungle Runner (post 5), and Gold Street (post 6).

Lynn’s Map, who was saddled with post 14 for the Lecomte at Fair Grounds on Jan. 18, was entered back in the Smarty Jones by trainer Mark Casse and drew post 8.

Jerry Hollendorfer and John Sadler, who are among a number of Southern California-based trainers with divisions this meet at Oaklawn, have runners on the undercard Friday. Sadler starts Miracle March in the third, a starter allowance, while Hollendorfer sends out Awesome Anywhere in the seventh, an optional claiming sprint that also drew Sadler trainee Horse Greedy. The runners will face a multiple stakes winner in Gray Attempt.

Hollendorfer will also see action in the ninth with Cherokee Chatter, an optional claiming allowance for 3-year-old fillies over six furlongs. She will be ridden by Joe Rocco Jr. Hollendorfer said Friday that he will have about 28 horses on the grounds for Oaklawn.

Other highlights on the card include a pair of maiden special weight routes for 3-year-olds. Both races – the fourth and the sixth – will be run over 1 1/16 miles. Trainer Nick Zito, who last year had a division at Oaklawn for the first time, has prospects in both races. The purse for each division of the maiden race that was split is $85,000.

The Smarty Jones is one of four stakes at the meet offering eligibility points for the Kentucky Derby. The first four finishers in Friday’s race earn points on a sliding scale of 10-4-2-1.