Oaklawn Report #10

Three Stars of the Week

– 1st Star: Close Hatches (KY) – She shipped in and stole the show from the three year olds!  Sometimes horses struggle with the Oaklawn surface when shipping, but Close Hatches proved to be a champion Saturday when winning the Azeri Stakes and turning back several worthy challengers in the stretch run.  When you consider her race record, and also considering when she did lose last year it was to some seriously good horses, this one could be turning into a super star.  You’d think they’ll come back now for the Apple Blossom, and unless someone ships in with some serious class it could be lights out for everyone else who enters.

– 2nd Star: Hoppertunity (KY) – It’s a Rebel Stakes that we’ll be talking about for a long time, but through all the bumping, grinding, and controversy it was Hoppertunity who came out on top.  Is Hoppertunity the best horse moving forward?  That’s certainly up for debate, but it also doesn’t matter when it comes to this particular race.  All the credit must be given to jockey Mike Smith for this one as he made things as difficult as possible for Tapiture and jockey Ricardo Santana Jr.  Santana rode a brave race himself, but the veteran Smith did just enough to make the difference.  Hopefully we’ll see the top four finishers of this one all come back for the Arkansas Derby.

– 3rd Star: Golden Lad (KY) – Pletcher’s success at Oaklawn isn’t as strong as many of the other tracks he comes too, but Golden Lad broke that trend as he dominated the Razorback Handicap over a field that looked evenly matched.  The field is probably not the best Grade 3 you’ll find, but it still included several horses that like Oaklawn and were highly touted.  Who knows where he’ll pop up next, it could be virtually anywhere.  It would be nice to see him back in a month to run in the Oaklawn Handicap…but will he come to challenge Will Take Charge?

Flop of the Week

– Govenor Charlie (KY) – He was bet down to the 2-1 favorite and thought of by most as being the better of the two Baffert horses that had shipped in for the weekend, but Govenor Charlie didn’t run a step in the Razorback step.  He was out-ran from the beginning, and never got into the race at any point.  With the track starting to play strangely his connections could point to that as an excuse, but to me it looks like he’s not a true two turn horse.

Trainer Standings

Rank	Trainer Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $		Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Steven M. Asmussen	92	21	20	6	$1,117,655		23%	47	51%
2	Chris   Richard	61	19	5	6	$472,416		31%	30	49%
2	Federico   Villafranco	58	19	13	7	$394,153		33%	39	67%
4	Cody   Autrey	81	17	16	11	$477,911		21%	44	54%
5	Chris A. Hartman	59	15	10	6	$441,515		25%	31	53%
6	Ron   Moquett	76	9	9	6	$389,282		12%	24	32%
6	Brad H. Cox	43	9	6	7	$335,329		21%	22	51%
8	D. Wayne Lukas	72	7	8	10	$410,471		10%	25	35%
8	Kellyn   Gorder	30	7	5	2	$285,976		23%	14	47%
8	Randy L. Morse	54	7	8	3	$278,087		13%	18	33%
8	David R. Vance	28	7	4	1	$162,441		25%	12	43%
8	Joseph R. Martin	58	7	7	11	$156,050		12%	25	43%

Jockey Standings

Rank	Jockey Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $		Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Ricardo   Santana, Jr.	195	37	34	14	$1,721,982		19%	85	44%
2	Norberto   Arroyo, Jr.	183	28	27	24	$973,504		15%	79	43%
2	David   Mello	149	28	18	19	$658,411		19%	65	44%
4	Ken S. Tohill	99	18	16	10	$526,001		18%	44	44%
5	Ramon A. Vazquez	108	17	17	16	$492,874		16%	50	46%
6	Terry J. Thompson	135	16	12	16	$555,867		12%	44	33%
7	Channing   Hill	98	14	11	13	$691,055		14%	38	39%
7	Alex   Birzer	165	14	20	14	$530,800		8%	48	29%
7	Jon Kenton Court	112	14	11	14	$412,090		13%	39	35%
10	Luis S. Quinonez	121	13	13	15	$489,342		11%	41	34%

Owner Standings

Rank	Owner Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $		Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Danny R. Caldwell	56	18	13	7	$383,293		32%	38	68%
2	Maggi   Moss	32	12	3	4	$226,655		38%	19	59%
3	Steve   Landers	51	10	9	8	$175,719		20%	27	53%
4	Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc.	43	8	8	3	$244,740		19%	19	44%
5	Ulwelling, Al and Bill	24	6	4	2	$149,162		25%	12	50%
6	Driver, James L. and Ywachetta H.	15	5	5	2	$238,737		33%	12	80%
6	William   Stiritz	40	5	3	1	$191,852		13%	9	23%
6	Zayat Stables, LLC	21	5	1	3	$174,792		24%	9	43%
6	Craig   Drago	15	5	0	4	$162,780		33%	9	60%
6	Poindexter Thoroughbreds LLC	22	5	3	3	$124,436		23%	11	50%
36	N P H Stable	11	5	1	2	$73,407		45%	8	73%

Preview to Next Week

– Saturday: The Gazebo Stakes – Three Year Olds – Six Furlongs – Purse: $100,000