Weast Hill targets Nodouble repeat

Weast Hill, who improved his Oaklawn record to 6 for 6 when winning an Arkansas-bred allowance Sunday in his first start since May, is being pointed to the $100,000 Nodouble on Feb. 25 at Oaklawn. The race is one of two stakes at the meet that trainer Brad Cox has penciled in for Weast Hill. He said the other is the $100,000 Arkansas Breeders’ on April 8.

Weast Hill won both of those races last year. The stakes are restricted to horses bred in Arkansas. Cox and breeder-owner Starsky Weast freshened Weast Hill last year with the intent of targeting those stakes at Oaklawn.

◗ Hailstorm Slew, an allowance sprint winner Jan. 19 at Oaklawn, is being pointed to the Grade 3, $150,000 Bayakoa on Feb. 18 at Oaklawn, trainer C.R. Trout said. Hailstorm Slew earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 82 for her win at Oaklawn on Jan. 19. One start prior, she won an Oklahoma-bred stakes at the two-turn configuration of the Bayakoa.

◗ Oaklawn has been named the presenting sponsor for the Riverfest Festival on June 1-4 in Little Rock, Ark. The track also will serve as the major music festival’s presenting sponsor in 2018.