Valentine Candy's versatility may provide edge in Ozark Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It’s less than a week to Valentine’s Day, and those looking for early gifts might consider a ticket on Valentine Candy in the $150,000 Ozark on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

He does figure to go favored off back-to-back stakes wins, but the field he will line up against includes a number of capable new shooters in what could lend itself to some value on the field’s most accomplished runner.

“It’s going to be a very tough race,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “It will take his best.”

The Ozark is a new offering for 3-year-olds at six furlongs and goes as the 10th of 11 races. The field of seven includes Time for Truth, an impressive debut winner who owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, and American Rascal, a stakes-winning son of Curlin and multiple Group 1 winner Lady Aurelia.

The Donegal Clan, who was a sharp allowance winner last out at Fair Grounds, and Let’s Go Mark, who is coming off a runner-up finish in the Turfway Prevue, add further depth.

Valentine Candy was a debut winner at Saratoga last July, taking a maiden special weight on the front end with a Beyer Speed Figure of 85. By year’s end, he landed at Oaklawn and won the Advent Stakes on Dec. 8 in the same fashion, by more than six lengths. Valentine Candy has made one other start at the meet, capturing the Renaissance on Dec. 31 from just off the pace.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

“It was his first win without having the lead – a nice variable for him that may come in handy down the road,” Asmussen said.

Valentine Candy could utilize the same kind of tactics when he breaks from post 7 under Ricardo Santana Jr. There is ample speed tucked to their inside, with The Donegal Clan breaking from the rail after wiring his rivals sprinting at Fair Grounds and Time for Truth doing the same last out at Oaklawn. Let’s Go Mark, who breaks from post 2, set the pace in the Turfway Prevue.

As for Valentine Candy, it turns out February is a special month for him for more than the obvious reason of his name.

“He was born on Valentine’s Day,” co-owner Corinne Heiligbrodt said.

She said Valentine Candy got his name for that reason and the fact that he’s out of a mare by Candy Ride. Taste Like Candy, who was Grade 1-placed, earned more than $200,000 and hails from the female family of multiple Grade 1-winning sprinter Affirmed Success. Valentine Candy is a son of Justify.

American Rascal invades off a runner-up finish in the Sugar Bowl at Fair Grounds. The race produced a next-out winner in The Donegal Clan, who came back to win an entry-level allowance in New Orleans with a Beyer of 81. That figure is the second-best last-race Beyer in the Ozark behind the 89 that Time for Truth put up winning a deep maiden special weight in his debut Dec. 31 at Oaklawn.

Vitement is moving back to dirt, where he is a winner, after taking a turf allowance at Fair Grounds over stakes winner Aspenite. Googol Joke was third last out in the Renaissance.

◗ Tapatio Leo, who has won his last three starts in Southern California, attempts to continue his streak in his Oaklawn debut. He meets a handful of stakes winners in the ninth race, a two-other-than allowance over six furlongs.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.