Valentine Candy takes Renaissance Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Valentine Candy won his second straight stakes of the Oaklawn Park meet on Sunday when he overcame traffic for a 1 1/4-length victory over Tejon Pass in the $150,000 Renaissance.

It was another three-quarters of a length back in third to Googol Joke.

The race was one of two stakes on the card. Ice Cold ($8.80) won the $200,000 Year’s End.

Oaklawn put the focus on 2-year-olds for the final afternoon of the year, with all 10 races on the card for juveniles. Valentine Candy was one of four winners on the program for trainer Steve Asmussen, who had runners entered in eight of the races, more than any other barn.

Valentine Candy ($3.40) broke with the field and tracked the pace from the rail as Normandy Hero went to the lead and set pressured fractions of 22.04 for the opening quarter and 45.81 seconds for the half-mile.

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Valentine Candy hit traffic on the turn, was guided off the fence by jockey Joel Rosario, angled out into the stretch and accelerated. The winner went on to cover six furlongs on a fast track in 1:11.29.

Valentine Candy previously won the $150,000 Advent Stakes on the opening day card Dec. 8 at Oaklawn. He is a son of Justify who races for Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Jackpot Farm and Whispering Oaks Farm. He has now won 3 of 6 starts for earnings of $263,925.

Asmussen’s other winners on Sunday's card came in the fifth with Imperial Gun ($10.20) and in the 10th with Pun Intended ($5.40) – both ridden by Rosario – and the eighth with Carbone ($3.40), who was ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr.

In the Year’s End for 2-year-old fillies, Ice Cold darted to a three-quarter-length win over Denim and Pearls, while it was another 4 1/2 lengths back in third to Neom Beach.

Ice Cold raced off the pace as Asternia set fractions of 23.18 seconds for the opening quarter and 47.20 for the half-mile. Denim and Pearls, who was the favorite, took the lead through six furlongs in 1:12.18 and seemed headed for victory until Ice Cold mounted a stretch bid and ran down that one while covering the mile distance in 1:38.97.

The Year’s End was held on a fast track and the race ended at the sixteenth pole, as with all mile races at Oaklawn.

Julien Leparoux was aboard the winner for trainer Kenny McPeek. It was the second winner on the card for the jockey and trainer team, which captured the third with Miss Jeopardy ($5).

Ice Cold is by Mitole. She races for Tilted Shamrock Stables. Ice Cold was winning the second stakes race of her career behind the Miss Indiana at Horseshoe Indianapolis and overall is 2 for 5 for earnings of $190,129.

Racing resumes Monday with the featured $300,000 Smarty Jones, which is a points race for the Kentucky Derby.

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