Wendelssohn stands out on company kept

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – A runner-up finish to Banishing has proven to be a good credential this meet at Oaklawn Park, and it might make Wendelssohn the favorite in Sunday’s featured eighth race.

He is one of nine in the nonwinners-of-three lifetime allowance for 4-year-olds and up at six furlongs. Other key players include Nasty Habit, a full brother to Grade 3 winner Raise Cain; This Is Ucar, who owns a series of competitive Beyer Speed Figures; and Easy Action, a stakes-placed runner making his second start since October.

Wendelssohn is one of three horses to have run second to Banishing in races at this meet. Tejano Twist was the first, when second in a Dec. 20 allowance for which Banishing earned a meet-high Beyer of 103. Tejano Twist came back in his next start to win the $150,000 King Cotton with a Beyer of 98.

Wendelssohn hooked Banishing on Jan. 23, finishing second in a dead heat with Osbourne in the $145,000 Byerley Turk overnight stakes at six furlongs. Banishing earned a Beyer of 100, tied for second highest at the meet. Wendelssohn, who finished seven lengths back, earned a Beyer of 83, which is one of the best last-race numbers in the field Sunday.

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Apprentice Tyler Bacon has the mount from post 9 for Ruis Racing and trainer Chris Hartman.

Banishing eyes Razorback

Banishing emerged from the Byerley Turk in excellent condition and is now a candidate for the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 22 at Oaklawn, trainer David Jacobson said Tuesday.

Jacobson co-owns Banishing with Lawrence Roman. The 5-year-old gelding by Ghostzapper was bred by Godolphin. He was an $80,000 purchase last July during a horses of racing age auction put on by Fasig-Tipton in Kentucky.

“He’s living up to the expectations that they had for him when he was baby,” Jacobson said. “I read some articles going way back. They had high hopes for him back then, and he’s living up to them now.”

Banishing would be moving back to two turns for the Razorback.

“We’re going to let him just rebound from his two very fast races,” Jacobson said. “We’re aiming at the Razorback, but we’ll see how that pans out, if he’s up to it. It’s a little quicker than we wanted to bring him back. There’s another sprint in March, the Whitmore, so if we don’t go in the Razorback we’ll go in the Whitmore.

“He was cut out to be a distance horse, and everything that I’ve read in the past and what he shows is telling me that he wants to go on. He might not even be at his best going short. These might just be workouts for him.”

Banishing has won his last three starts in a streak that started in a seven-furlong allowance in November at Churchill Downs. Jacobson said a long-range objective with Banishing is the Grade 1, $1 million Churchill Downs at seven furlongs on May 3.

“We’ll see how the races come up, how the races shape up,” he said. “There’s a lot of moving parts.

“I’m happy I have him and I don’t have to run against him, that’s for sure.”

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