Warrior's Charge likely to stay the course and run in Oaklawn Handicap

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Warrior’s Charge is likely headed to the Grade 2, $1 million Oaklawn Handicap on April 18 following his Monday win in the track’s Razorback Handicap, trainer Brad Cox said on Tuesday.

Warrior’s Charge on Monday set the pace in the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap, engaged in a stretch battle with Bankit, and came out a head winner. He covered the mile and a sixteenth in 1:43, the second fastest time in the race’s last 18 runnings, ranking behind Gun Runner’s time of 1:40.97 in 2017.

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Warrior’s Charge earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 97. It was the first stakes win for the son of Munnings, who last year ran a close fourth in the Preakness Stakes. He came into the Razorback off a December allowance win at Fair Grounds.

“Very proud of the horse,” Cox said Tuesday. “He dug in to win. He’s just been training extremely well, showed up to run in the two races off his layoff. When he came back last fall, he appeared to come back bigger, stronger and faster, and I think he’s shown that in his two races. I’m very proud of him.”

Cox said Tuesday that Warrior’s Charge would either remain at Oaklawn to train or return to Fair Grounds, where he had prepped for the Razorback.

“We’ll regroup with him, give him plenty of time to recover from this one,” Cox said. “He looked good this morning. I was very pleased. I’ll talk it over with the owners, but we kind of made a plan a while back targeting the Razorback and the Oaklawn.”

Warrior’s Charge is owned by Ten Strike Racing and Madaket Stables. He is 3 for 4 at Oaklawn and a perfect 3 for 3 under jockey Florent Geroux, who was aboard Monday and who also won the Razorback on Gun Runner.