Wide-open Razorback offers great betting opportunity

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Grade 3, $600,000 Razorback Handicap appears to be the best betting race on Saturday’s blockbuster card at Oaklawn Park.

The 1 1/16-mile contest is part of an all-stakes pick four that runs from races 8 to 11 on Rebel Day. The 12-race card is also littered with allowance and maiden special weight opportunities that could produce starters for next month’s Arkansas Derby.

The Razorback drew 13 veterans, but Ain’t Life Grand will scratch in favor of a Sunday allowance for what will be his first start since July, according to trainer Kelly Von Hemel.

Promise Keeper, who wired the field last out in the Fifth Season at Oaklawn and is co-highweighted at 118 pounds, meets fellow stakes winners Frosted Departure, Octane, and U.S. Army, as well as the Grade 2-placed Speed Bias and the up-and-coming runners Magic Tap and Bolzy.

:: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports

“I think, looking at the race, any one of the 12 horses could win it and it wouldn’t shock anyone,” said Robertino Diodoro, who trains Promise Keeper. “It’s a very even, very competitive race.”

One theme is the fact that there appears to be a good deal of speed.

“There’s plenty of pace for sure,” said Diodoro. “I think this horse, when he runs his best, he’s one-dimensional. This is one of those situations where you can’t worry about everyone else. You’ve got to worry about your horse.

“We’re not going to change his running style. He’s proven his best running is on the lead. That’s where we’re going to have to go. He’s a 6-year-old horse coming off a win. We’re definitely not going to change his running style on Saturday.”

Trainer Kenny McPeek said as much about Frosted Departure, the 118-pound co-highweight who two back won an Oaklawn allowance route on the front end, with a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 99. McPeek also will saddle the late-running Escapologist.

“We’ve got the engine and the caboose,” said McPeek.

“Frosted Departure, if things go his way, he’s tough. If they don’t, he’s not. Last time, the pace was a little too quick.”

Ramon Vazquez has the mount on Frosted Departure from post 2, while Escapologist starts from gate 12 under Brian Hernandez Jr.

Magic Tap bid from off the pace to win an allowance route in his last start at Oaklawn, and the same tactics were employed by Bolzy when he took another local allowance with a career-high Beyer of 96. It’s the best last-race number in the Razorback.

“I think we’ve got some versatility, as far as where we need to be and what the pace is,” trainer Donnie Von Hemel said of Bolzy. “The 12-hole is going to be a factor.

“Like everybody else, we’ll just be trying to figure out how to get to the first turn without losing the race already. And a lot of that is just going to lay on the jock, and how you break and what the pace is, and where you can fit yourself in.”

Bolzy drew post 13, but will move in a gate with the defection of Ain’t Life Grand. Francisco Arrieta has the mount Saturday.

Bolzy is a son of Gun Runner and the Grade 3-winning mare She’s All In, who overall won 16 races and earned $1.1 million.

Notary, who will start from post 11, enters off an allowance win at Oaklawn. Speed Bias was second in the Tinsel two races ago, his first local start of the meet after running second in the Grade 2 Fayette at Keeneland.

Speed Bias has shown speed in his races, while Octane, co-highweighted at 118, wired the field last out when he won the fourth stakes of his career in the Sunshine Classic at Gulfstream Park. U.S. Army pulled a wire job when he won the Jeffrey Hawk Memorial in December at Remington Park.

As for Promise Keeper, he is the lone graded winner in the field. He’s picking up distance Saturday.

“I actually thought the Fifth Season was going to be a little too short for him,” Diodoro said. “I think the mile and a sixteenth is definitely beneficial to him.”

Harry Hernandez has the mount from post 10.

Carousel Stakes

Zeitlos and Mucho Macho Girl will be looking to continue win streaks when they meet in the $150,000 Carousel.

Both are making their stakes debuts in the six-furlong race for fillies and mares.

Zeitlos won a November allowance at Churchill Downs and came back one start later to win another allowance at Oaklawn. Tyler Gaffalione has the mount for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Mucho Macho Girl has won back-to-back allowances at Fair Grounds. Brian Hernandez Jr. has the mount for trainer Dallas Stewart.

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