Winterwood, Whelen Springs top big allowance fields
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Winterwood has the look of a runner who could develop into a stakes horse, but the first order of business comes in Sunday’s ninth race at Oaklawn Park.
The first-level allowance for 4-year-olds and up at a mile is one of two high-end offerings on the card. A two-other-than allowance sprint is slotted for the eighth, and it drew multiple stakes winner Whelen Springs.
The ninth race has a field of 12 and the eight race a field of 11. The average field size for the nine-race card Sunday is 11 horses.
Winterwood will break from post 10. He was second at this level Dec. 17 at Oaklawn in a 1 1/16-mile race, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 96.
“He ran good, ran a huge number,” said Terry Brennan, who trains Winterwood. “The horse that just beat him, he’s gotten really good. He’s won four in a row.”
That would be Disc Jockey, who has built his streak from Southern California, to Remington Park, to Oaklawn.
Winterwood’s 96 was a career-high Beyer and since the start he’s trained well, Brennan said.
“He seems good. He’s acting good,” he said. “A lot of times, they’ll bounce off a number like that, too. I hope he runs back to it. He’s getting better every time I run him.”
Winterwood is a son of Maclean’s Music and the winning mare War Relic, who is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Rush Bay. Winterwood’s female family produced Chorwon, a Grade 3 winner who earned $1.1 million. Winterwood races for Greyrock Investment.
Rafael Bejarano will be aboard Winterwood on Sunday.
“He’ll get him a spot,” Brennan said, adding that Winterwood “has speed.”
“If he gets away good, he can lay fairly close,” he said.
Other promising runners in the field include Debate, a son of Flatter and the Grade 2-winning mare Vexed. He is coming off a maiden special weight win over 7 1/2 furlongs on Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs. The race has produced three next-out winners, with one taking a maiden special weight race at Gulfstream Park and one winning a maiden special weight at Turfway.
Joe Talamo has the mount on Debate for the partnership of Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider. He is trained by Thomas Drury Jr.
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Whelen Springs has returned to Oaklawn for the eighth race, which will be run over six furlongs. He won three races at that distance last meet, including the Rainbow against Arkansas-breds and the Bachelor. In the Bachelor, he earned a Beyer of 95, which is one of the best career numbers in the field Sunday.
David Cabrera has the mount for Shortleaf Stable and trainer John Ortiz.
Ortiz also will saddle Air Combat, who finished fourth in the mud as the favorite at this level last out at Oaklawn. His wins came on fast tracks. Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount for Gary and Mary West.
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