Oaklawn Report #2

Don't Tell Sophia is our First Star of the Week — Don’t Tell Sophia is our First Star of the Week

Three Stars of the Week

– 1st Star: Don’t Tell Sophia (KY) – The big mare is back….and could be better than ever! After leaving the gate slowly Don’t Tell Sophia spotted them a few lengths, but it wouldn’t matter. Turning for home she had already made up a lot of ground, and there was never a question as she cruised to a very workman like win. I don’ think anyone questioned her coming into this one, but can she win against the tougher company that is sure to be here in March and April.

– 2nd Star: Tanzanite Cat (FL) – We called him a “wild card” to win the Smarty Jones, and he delivered winning by a comfortable margin over Walt. There are certainly question marks about the strength of the field, but at least Tanzanite Kate won this one by quite a bit. The win capped off an incredible start to the meet for trainer Chris Autrey, and after the race he said the Southwest would his next goal.

– 3rd Star: Work All Week (IL) – Work All Week won his fifth in a row, and his eighth in his last ten races! The horse had been running in several Illinois bred race, and this field was loaded, but I guess it didn’t bother him as he actually won fairly easy at the wire. Hopefully he only continues to get better with age, and you would think we would see him in all the big Oaklawn Sprinter Stakes.

Flop of the Week

– Titletown Five (KY) – I’m finally giving up on this horse. He gave us all thrills and hope when he crushed them at Churchill as a two-year old, but he hasn’t been the same since. Last year was lack luster, but his debut effort of 2014 was even worse. As always, he looked poised to run a big race at the top of the stretch, but faded badly to finish second to last. At this point what do you try next?

Trainer Standings

Rank	Trainer Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $	Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Cody Autrey	25	10	2	2	$263,923	40%	14	56%
3	Chris A. Hartman	17	4	3	2	$124,287	24%	9	53%
6	Chris Richard	13	4	1	0	$77,420	31%	5	38%
11	Federico Villafranco	14	4	2	3	$68,516	29%	9	64%
2	Steven M. Asmussen	21	3	3	2	$174,035	14%	8	38%
4	D. Wayne Lukas	21	3	1	6	$99,755	14%	10	48%
8	Roger A. Brueggemann	9	3	1	2	$73,562	33%	6	67%
12	Gary G. Hartlage	5	3	0	1	$64,805	60%	4	80%
13	Brad H. Cox	10	3	2	0	$63,140	30%	5	50%
17	David R. Vance	7	2	1	0	$51,215	29%	3	43%
26	Lynn Chleborad	8	2	1	1	$35,648	25%	4	50%
31	Paul E. Holthus	5	2	1	0	$26,541	40%	3	60%
34	Otto Draper	4	2	0	0	$24,300	50%	2	50%
5	Mark E. Casse	14	1	1	3	$81,434	7%	5	36%

Jockey Standings

Rank	Jockey Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $	Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Norberto Arroyo, Jr.	35	11	4	4	$320,626	31%	19	54%
12	David Mello	27	6	3	2	$98,297	22%	11	41%
3	Channing Hill	24	5	2	3	$203,322	21%	10	42%
2	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	41	4	9	3	$252,291	10%	16	39%
4	Terry J. Thompson	33	4	5	2	$137,417	12%	11	33%
5	Ken S. Tohill	23	4	3	3	$130,968	17%	10	43%
8	Seth B. Martinez	12	4	2	2	$103,877	33%	8	67%
9	Alex Birzer	36	4	2	2	$101,905	11%	8	22%
11	Jon Kenton Court	34	4	4	2	$99,890	12%	10	29%
10	Israel Ocampo	20	3	4	1	$101,396	15%	8	40%
16	Joe M. Johnson	8	3	0	1	$65,191	38%	4	50%