HOT SPRINGS — No trainer did more with less last year at Oaklawn Park than Ingrid Mason.
In her Oaklawn debut, Mason’s tiny stable - never more than five horses - amassed nine victories from only 21 starts.
But Mason, whose winning percentage of .429 led all Oaklawn regulars, is at the top of a statistic at this year’s Oaklawn meeting that involves more frustration than jubilation.
Mason and trainer Mac Robertson each have a meet-high nine runner-up finishes.
“It is what it is,” Mason said after training hours Thursday morning. “You’ve got to win. Seconds don’t cut it.”
Sandwiched around those nine seconds are two victories and two thirds from 23 starts, meaning Mason’s in-the-money percentage is .565.
It was 57.1 percent during last year’s meeting.
Mason said she believes her win total has been impacted by several factors, including bad luck.
A handful of horses, she said, have had traffic trouble during races.
Mason said the competition is tougher this year, too.
And while her stable has grown to 20, the lineup has been shuffled because of injuries, she said.
“I had a lot of horses that got hurt last year and are just now coming off the bench,” Mason said. “I’ve had new ones that I’ve got that aren’t so good.”
Mason’s most accomplished horse, Crook’s Bodgit, won’t run at the meeting after suffering a leg injury following a May 18 allowance victory at Indiana Downs.
A two-time winner at last year’s Oaklawn meeting, Crook’s Bodgit provided Mason with her first stakes victory in the $100,000 Star of Texas on Dec. 5, 2009, at Sam Houston Race Park in Texas.
“After I won that $100,000 race with him, that got me on the map,” said Mason, who saddled her first winner in 2005. “I barely had three horses last year, and he was one of the three.”
But Mason emerged as the leading female trainer at last year’s Oaklawn meeting.
How far has she come in a year? Mason, 39, has her own barn.
“Being here has definitely boosted my career, just because people notice you more here,” Mason said. “There’s a lot of different owners that come here every year, and it’s a well-known meet. Everybody says it’s tough to win races here, but the first year I was here I won nothing but races. I think that’s why people noticed.”
Mason said she had only two owners when she came to Oaklawn in 2010.
Mason said she has about eight today after picking up two more clients during this year’s meeting.
Now, it’s about picking up victories.
“Well, the seconds aren’t fun for me,” Mason said. “But they’ve been running good, so I’m hoping to turn those seconds into wins.”
Sports, Pages 24 on 02/25/2011