2yo G1 winner Eight Rings just got his butt kicked in the Bachelor Stakes at Oaklawn. The 4-5 favorite, he finished 5th of 6.
Not impressed with Eight Ringās performance today. Long Weekend looked nice. Baffert needs to go back to the drawing board on this one (Eight Rings) perhaps who was the race favorite at post time.
Similar with the Carousel Stakes. Bellafina went off, I think, as the race time favorite. Not the best trip, slow to start and then had to check up. Mia Mischief looked goodā¦ Amyās Challenge tried her hardest but the race was Mia Mischiefās with a nice stretch dual.
Hard when there are currently 7 tracks listed as racing on Equibase. Not many options for trainers who donāt really know what to target next for their different horsesā¦ end of the summer is too far away to plan.
Arkansas Derby will be split into 2 divisions.
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/239834/oaklawn-park-splits-arkansas-derby-into-two-divisions?utm_source=BHFB&utm_medium=social
TVG just said that Oaklawn was going to have to re-draw but didnāt say why. But yes, 2 divisions.
Couldnāt find anything more on this and so far TVG hasnāt said moreā¦
I am watching āAmericaās Day At The Racesā (FS1), and they have been talking about it all afternoon.
Arkansas Derby - 2 divisions, each with an 11 horse field. Couldnāt not find in a skim of the Bloodhorse article why some horses are weighted at 118 while others will be carrying 122.
May 2 (next Saturday) is the end of the 2020 Oaklawn Park meet. 
Their closing day cardā¦ 14 races with an average of 13 horses per race. The entire 14 race card be broadcast on FS1 and TVG. The stakes races will also be shown on NBCSN from the TVG feed.
The Oaklawn Handicap (G2), Race 12 for 4yo and up also has a tasty field 
Bravazo, Mr Freeze, Tacitus, Tax, By My Standards, Improbable among others (14 horse field)
Curious if thereās been rebooting for the 3 yr old filly races.
I know the KO is scheduled for Sept 4th.
What about the Black Eyed Susan & other major spring/early summer races
I havenāt seen/read anything but for the āmajorā filly races that normally would run in conjunction with the Preakness or Belmont, those races would move at the same time as the colt races.
I know some of the premier filly races are āstandaloneā, ie not tied to a major colt race. Those, we may not know until tracks start opening up again. So far, I donāt think weāve seen any track āre-openā after racing was shut down (not talking about spectatorless but no racing at all). Suspect this is why tracks like Fonner Park and Tampa Bay Downs are extending their seasonsā¦ nothing to replace them where in a ānormalā year, when one trackās meet ends, another trackās meet starts.
Very nice. On March 20, Oaklawn said the Arkansas Derby purse would be reduced from $1M to $750K after the casino closed.
When the Arkansas Derby originally split into two divisions, it was announced that the KD points would be split between the two divisions.
Now, Oaklawn has committed back to the $1M purse split between the two divisions as well as now each division will get 170 KD points each (100-40-20-10).
Nice to see racing doing their best for both the horsemen, bettors, and spectators (yeah, even if only on TV ).
Interesting that one of the likely favorites in the first division, Charlatan, needed the race to split to get in. He didnāt have enough earnings to get into the 14 horse gate if the Arkansas Derby didnāt split.
This weekend should be good at Oaklawn.
Hope more tracks are able to get up and going in the next few weeksā¦
Charlatan has only raced twice so far. He has an impressive maiden win, followed by an impressive allowance win. If the Derby was being run next weekend he wouldnāt have been ready to compete (nor would he have gotten in). Heās one of those 3yo colts whose career will probably be enhanced by the Derbyās move to September. He may be peaking when some of the earlier impressive colts are starting to tail off.
Those 2 starts didnāt put a bunch of change in the piggy bank for sure for Charlatan. :lol:
Maybe a bit ironic that he needed the Arkansas Derby to be split into 2 divisions to make the race.
I would agree that he may be one of the colts who benefits by the Derby being later rather than earlier. I do not envy trainers of potential top 3YO colts when you donāt yet know what their real potential is and donāt have a target, ATM, other than the Derby the first Saturday in September or the Breederās Cup 2 months later.
No date for the Preakness, no date for the Belmont Stakes and 2 months from the Kentucky Derby to the Breederās Cup.
Things that make you goā¦ hummmmm
Arkansas Derby, 2 divisions. Oaklawn needed 22 horses to split into 2 divisions and thatās what they got.
The first two scratches, one from each division; Shooters Shoot from the first division and Fast Enough from the second division.
Now two more scratches, one from each division; Wrecking Crew from the first, Saratogian from the second.
True enough that Saratogian was in a different division than Charlatan but Saratogian has many of the same owners as Charlatan. Charlatan would not be racing in a single division Arkansas Derby.
IMO, division 1 is āsofterā with just Charlatan as a strong favorite (most likely). Division two has a few more strong coltsā¦ Nadal, King Guillermo and Wells Bayou are all in the second division.
I just came here to add that it is really nice to see Martin Garcia as the Jock on Charlatan. He has been at the tops of the sport in years past. Bob has been using his services as an exercise jock for many of his horses but Bob seemed to always choose Drayden or Mike, etc to ride his mounts in races. Martin did ride Collected for Bob to 2nd in the Classic but Collected would later be ridden by Mike.
Just nice to see Martin Garcia be the chosen Jock for Charlatan who seems to be very special. Love to watch him gallop in his works. It will be interesting to see how this horse steps up to bigger competition.
IMO, many factors in play on why Martin Garcia is riding Charlatan tomorrow.
IMO, again, if Charlatan makes it as far as the gate for the Kentucky Derby, Iām not so sure you wouldnāt see Big Money Mike on Charlatan.
https://www.attheraces.com/news/2020/April/30/martin-garcia-excited-at-charlatan-opportunity
Count me in as another person looking at these developments and going hmmmā¦
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For me, the sentimental favorite will be Storm the Court (watching Brittney Eurton cheering (ok, screaming) for her dadās horse (trainer) as he won the BC Juvenile last fall was so much fun.
Having said that, donāt think Storm the Court can beat the likes of Charlatan or Nadal (I know, both Baffert but he is paid to get good horses in the top tier racesā¦).
Would still like to see StC win or at least place on the board for KD points 
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sour grapes for not following the rules or is the CHRB the one being ādifficultāĀā¦
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/239934/trainer-miller-critical-of-arkansas-derby-scratch
I donāt know that I thought it was sour grapes based on what Miller said in the article. Maybe there is a nugget of ātruthā that vet and Miller should have known about the between-race testing. But, since racing on Clenbuterol is not allowed in CA, I also get the sentiment of āwhy testā between races.
Probably further compounded that Wrecking Crew, if SAās season had not been interrupted by COVID would most likely not have been in Arkansas but rather CA.
I do think Miller is right to be annoyed that Oaklawn should have notified him at time of entry about this issue instead of after the horse was shipped to Oaklawn.
Ultimately, the responsibility is on Miller and the vet. I feel some amount of grousing is justified.
I think that if Charlatan continues his winning ways under the best 3y/oās this year before the derby in Sept; not sure why Bob would switch gears on a jock at that point. and if he did; I hope it backfires on him. Martin has him pretty well figured out and has proven that he can ride him quite well; he proved that this weekend. Martin will only continue to get more accustomed to the horse by September. Sure hope he gets to keep the ride.
Anyone else not quite on the NADAL bandwagon? Donāt get me wrong he is a nice horse. Physically when I look at him I see a bigger version of American Pharoah. He looked good in the Arkansas down the backstretch but every race that I see this horse in at the top of the stretch he just kind of flat lines. The only race that made me go WOW was his Race 7 back in January against so-so competition.
He is gritty, and gutsy, its not that he does not try. But I just donāt see the pizzazz or the extra gear. He has a front running type of style and so far he has gotten blessed with clean trips. I just do not see this horse coming down the stretch the like a freight train if he gets stuck in traffic in a 20 horse field in September.
I am on the Charlatan bandwagon. His gallop reminds me very much of AP. Efficiency of motion at its finest. Barely working, ears pricked. and at the top of the stretch he just hits another gear. But his front running style and so far clean trips have been a blessing to him and his success thus far. Will he get that luck on the biggest stage?
One thing I think is worthy of note is Bobās 3 yr olds are always primed for this time of yr. This is their go -time. Nadal has more work under his belt than Charlatan. Will they stay sound and game until September or maybe even October? This will be interesting
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