Will Rogers closes with a bang

Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., will close out a record-setting meet Wednesday with an allowance feature that could pass as a stakes race. The accomplished Chris and Dave, Dame Plata, and Sorryaboutnothing will be out to catch recent overnight handicap winner Hunka Burning Love.

The no-conditions allowance is for 3-year-olds and up at a mile. It goes as the fifth race on a 10-race program. First post is 1:15 p.m. Central.

Will Rogers was one of the few tracks able to remain racing during the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic, and it handled $7,367,213 on one of its cards earlier in the meet to set a record for the state of Oklahoma.

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Chris and Dave is part of a seven-horse field Wednesday. The winner of last year’s Jim Rasmussen Memorial at Prairie Meadows has been racing at Oaklawn Park. He was third in a key allowance in February, with the winner of the race, Night Ops, and the runner-up, Sky Promise, both returning to win stakes in their next starts. As for Chris and Dave, he was second in a March allowance before finishing 10th last out, in another allowance.

“He kind of had a bad trip in the last race he ran at Oaklawn,” owner Danny Caldwell said. “He likes to be up close to the front and he was kind of shuffled back and never really got into his groove. He came back to the barn rearing up and acting like he didn’t run. He’s kind of been sitting on go.”

Caldwell also noted the depth of the race Chris and Dave exits. The winner, Endorsed, was coming out of the Santa Anita Handicap, while the runner-up was multiple stakes winner Bankit and the third-place finisher was the well-regarded Pirate’s Punch.

“Any other track that would have been a $100,000 stakes,” he said.

Floyd Wethey Jr. has the mount from post 4 for trainer Scott Young. Young has horses at Will Rogers for Caldwell, while Chris Dave’s primary trainer, Federico Villafranco, is overseeing Caldwell’s barn at Oaklawn.

“He’s got enough tactical speed to stay up close,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell operates one of the winningest and largest stables in the Midwest and as of Monday was awaiting word on the status of various meets that have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. He has stalls at Canterbury and Prairie Meadows and was applying to other tracks for accommodations for his stable.

“I’m kind of in limbo right now – hoping to know by the end of the week,” he said of summer plans for his barn.

Chris and Dave’s chief rivals include Hunka Burning Love, a threat to control the pace after a 10-length romp in an overnight handicap May 11 at Will Rogers, and Downtowner, who in November was second in the $150,000 Zia Park Championship.

Sorryaboutnothing is a past winner of the Grade 3 British Columbia Derby, while Dame Plata is a two-time stakes winner coming off an allowance win at Will Rogers.