HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The rematch is on.
Discreetness and Gordy Florida, who finished a neck apart in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on Monday at Oaklawn Park, are both being pointed for next month’s Southwest Stakes, according to their trainers. The Grade 3, $500,000 race for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles is Feb. 15.
$150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, one mile, Oaklawn Park, Jan. 18, 2016
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Discreetness (sire: Discreet Cat)
Trainer: Jinks Fires
Jockey: Jon Court
Owner: Xpress Thoroughbreds LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 83
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Discreetness struck first in Oaklawn Park’s series for 3-year-olds on Monday, when he rallied for a neck win over Gordy Florida in the $150,000 Smarty Jones. It was another 1 3/4 lengths back in third to Synchrony.
Toews On Ice, the 3-5 favorite off his runner-up finish in the Los Alamitos Futurity, dueled for the lead early and finished sixth.
ARCADIA, Calif. – American Pharoah was honored with the Vox Populi Award on Saturday at Santa Anita, Secretariat’s owner Penny Chenery was in the house, California Chrome returned to action, and the Sham Stakes was run. Yes, the aura of the Kentucky Derby hung over the track, and, appropriate of the scene, it was four-time Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert who shined with a couple of his 2016 Derby prospects.
Mo Tom, who won the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs last year before finishing third there in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, is the most accomplished of the 15 3-year-olds entered for the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 16 at Fair Grounds.
Even though Dressed in Hermes has made his last four starts on turf, winning two stakes, trainer Janet Armstrong likes the way he has trained on dirt, which has earned Dressed in Hermes a start on Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita.
But how Dressed in Hermes will perform on an expected off track is a guess, Armstrong said.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs officials on Tuesday released the stakes schedule for their 2016 spring meet, with the most notable change being the renaming of the former Firecracker Handicap in honor of Wise Dan, the Horse of the Year in 2012 and 2013.
The Wise Dan remains a Grade 2, $200,000 race for 3-year-olds and upward on the turf, with its distance now lengthened from a mile to 1 1/16 miles. It has been moved from closing weekend of the meet to the June 18 Stephen Foster card.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Path of David, who won Thursday’s $79,250 Eddie Logan Stakes on turf at Santa Anita, is being pointed for the $150,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on the main track here Feb. 6, trainer Kristin Mulhall said. The 1 1/16-mile Lewis for 3-year-olds is a prep race for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
“We wanted to see how he came out of it, and so far, he looks good,” Mulhall said.
