Toews On Ice heads field of 14 in Smarty Jones Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park will launch its 3-year-old series on Monday when 14 horses led by Toews On Ice run in the $150,000 Smarty Jones. Entries for the one-mile race were taken on Friday.

The Smarty Jones – which will end at the sixteenth pole – offers its first four finishers Kentucky Derby points on a preference system administered by Churchill Downs. The points will be awarded on a scale of 10-4-2-1.

Toews On Ice won the Grade 3 Bob Hope in November at Del Mar and was second in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity in his two-turn debut Dec. 19. For the Smarty Jones, he drew post 2. Trainer Bob Baffert has given the mount to Martin Garcia. Toews On Ice arrived Wednesday afternoon from Southern California.

Discreetness, the winner of the $250,000 Springboard Mile last month at Remington Park, will break from post 5 in the Smarty Jones. Trainer Jinks Fires has given the mount to Jon Court.

The complete Smarty Jones field from the rail with riders is: Luna de Loco, Ricardo Santana Jr.; Toews On Ice; Gordy Florida, Glenn Corbett; Charming Deputy, Santo Sanjur; Discreetness; Back Togetheragain, Shane Laviolette; Black Ops, Calvin Borel; Synchrony, Shaun Bridgmohan; Whitmore, Didiel Osorio; Gray Sky, Terry Thompson; Shogood, Chris Emigh; Cutacorner, Quincy Hamilton; Force It, Julio Felix; and Knights Key, Joe Rocco Jr.

Whitmore also was entered in a Saturday allowance at Oaklawn.

The forecast for Monday is for partly cloudy skies and a high of 44 degrees, according to The Weather Channel. The overnight low for Monday is 26.

Following the Smarty Jones, the Oaklawn series for 3-year-olds continues with the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest on Feb. 15; the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel on March 19; and the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on the final card of the meet, April 16.

◗ Oaklawn will honor Triple Crown winner American Pharoah on Monday with a bobblehorse promotion. Patrons will receive the toy – while supplies last – with a $2 donation to the racetrack chaplaincy program in Arkansas. Last year, American Pharoah won the Rebel and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn on his way to the Kentucky Derby.