Unique Bella, Accelerate highweights in Racing Festival

California horses will have a strong presence in two of the three handicaps at Oaklawn Park this week during the Racing Festival of the South.

The festival, which begins Thursday and concludes Saturday - closing day of the Oaklawn season - is topped by the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on Saturday and consists of seven stakes worth a combined $3.5 million.

The Grade 1, $700,000 Apple Blossom, Grade 1, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap, and the Grade 3, $400,000 Count Fleet will be run under handicap weights, which were released over the weekend.

Unique Bella, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Accelerate, trained by John Sadler, and City of Light, who is conditioned by Michael McCarthy, were highweighted at 123 pounds in the three races. They are all based at Santa Anita and had their final pre-festival workouts Sunday.

Unique Bella and Accelerate will accept their weight assignments in the Apple Blossom and Oaklawn Handicap, respectively. In a somewhat surprising move, McCarthy confirmed Sunday that City of Light would make his first start beyond seven furlongs in the Oaklawn Handicap rather than compete in the six-furlong Count Fleet.

City of Light, who in his last two starts won the Grade 1 Triple Bend on March 10 and Grade 1 Malibu on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, has been assigned 120 for the Oaklawn Handicap.

"We made up a plan after the Malibu where we would stretch him out in the Razorback at Oaklawn but due to inclement weather, shipping, going a route of ground for the first time, and an off track, we decided it was not the right thing to do," McCarthy said. "We instead went to the Triple Bend."

City of Light, a $710,000 purchase at the 2015 Keeneland September sale, has a 6-3-3-0 record and will be an interesting proposition as he stretches his considerable speed out around two turns.

Accelerate comes into the Oaklawn Handicap off victories in the Santa Anita Handicap and Grade 2 San Pasqual.

Others possible for the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap are Hawaakom (117), winner of the $500,000 Razorback for Wes Hawley, Fear the Cowboy (116), Hedge Fund (116), Inside Straight (116), Colonelsdarktemper (115), Leofric (115), Untrapped (115), Lookin At Lee (114), Sonneteer (114), and Blueridge Traveler (113).

Unique Bella will be a heavy favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom. Unique Bella, 7 for 9 in her career, is exiting a nine-length victory in the Grade 2 Santa Maria on Feb. 10. She was withheld from the March 17 Santa Margarita due to a cough, but enters the Apple Blossom off five consecutive bullet workouts.

"I didn't miss a whole lot of time with her," Hollendorfer said.

Her expected rivals include Farrell (117), Tiger Moth (117), Streamline (116), Unbridled Mo (116), and Fuhriously Kissed (113).

Whitmore is the likely highweight for the Count Fleet, a race he won last year. A field of eight is in the making.

The possible starters include Whitmore (121), Ivan Fallinuvalot (119), Favorite Tale (118), Wilbo (118), Smart Spree (117), Wynn Time (116), and Wings Locked Up (115).

Sadler is expected to send either Edwards Going Left (117) or Blameitonthelaw (114).