Oaklawn Park report

Will Take Charge turned in his final major workout for the Feb. 18 Southwest Stakes, running 5 furlongs in 1:00.80.
Will Take Charge turned in his final major workout for the Feb. 18 Southwest Stakes, running 5 furlongs in 1:00.80.

— Workout a breeze for colt

Will Take Charge recorded his final major workout for the $300,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes on Feb. 18 at Oaklawn Park, breezing 5 furlongs in 1:00.80 on Friday morning.

Will Take Charge, a 3-year-old Unbridled’s Song colt owned by Willis Horton of Marshall, worked about a half-hour after the break to renovate the racing surface, and in company with stablemate Bourbonesque, a 4-year-old filly.

Will Take Charge spotted his workmate about 2 lengths, stuck a head in front on the outside near the three-eighths pole and was several lengths clear at the finish.

It was the second-fastest of 23 works recorded at the distance.

Bourbonesque was credited with 5 furlongs in 1:02.80.

Will Take Charge breezed a half-mile in :48.80 on Jan. 31, his first work since winning the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes 10 days earlier.

“I wanted to be a little more serious this time,” Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said.

“Last time was more of a maintenance work. This one, we got a little more serious. Really liked the way he handled it. He did it well within himself.”

Following early splits of :12 for the opening eighth, :24 for a quarter-mile and :36.40 for 3 furlongs, Will Take Charge galloped out 6 furlongs in 1:15.20.

Will Take Charge won the Smarty Jones by a neck over Texas Bling, another scheduled Southwest starter.

Texas Bling is scheduled to work today for trainer Danele Durham.

Najjaar’s comeback

Late-running Najjaar is scheduled to make his 4-year-old debut in today’s fifth race for trainer Dan Peitz, who is using it as a steppingstone to the $150,000 Grade III Razorback Handicap on March 9.

“This is a prep for the Razorback, OK,” Peitz said jokingly after training hours Friday morning.

“With the emphasis on prep.”

The 1 1/16-mile race is a second-level allowance/ optional claimer for older horses.

Najjaar hasn’t started since finishing a closing third in the $125,000 Arlington Classic on May 26 at Arlington Park in suburban Chicago. Shortly after that race, Najjaar underwent surgery to remove a small flake of bone from an ankle.

Peitz said Najjaar resumed training around Oct. 1 in Camden, S.C., and arrived in Hot Springs in late November.

“My expectations are, I’m just trying to get a good race into him,” Peitz said. “And if he wins, great.

I don’t want to gut him out to win an allowance race, when we’re looking at the Razorback as a goal.”

Najjaar won two races at last year’s Oaklawn meeting before running sixth in the $500,000 Grade II Rebel Stakes and seventh in the $1 million Grade I Arkansas Derby.

Peitz said the son of Belmont Stakes winner Jazil hasn’t missed a beat in his training at Oaklawn.

“He seems happy,” Peitz said. “Everything’s really good right now with him.” Alternation update

Trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel said Alternation continues to progress well toward his 5-year-old debut, which could come in the $150,000 Grade III Razorback Handicap on March 9.

Alternation worked 5 furlongs in 1:02 on Wednesday morning, the millionaire and multiple stakes winner’s fourth breeze since Jan. 19 at Oaklawn.

“He was pretty relaxed the first part and came home in :24,” Von Hemel said, referring to Alternation’s final quarter.

“I was happy with it.”

Von Hemel said if Alternation doesn’t have any weather-related training setbacks this month, the horse “could probably” make the Razorback.

Alternation swept Oaklawn’s three biggest races for older two-turn handicap horses last year - the Essex, Razorback and the Grade II Oaklawn Handicap.

Alternation hasn’t started since finishing last of six in the $500,000 Grade II Hawthorne Gold Cup on Oct. 6 at Hawthorne near Chicago.

Von Hemel said Alternation’s major spring objective is the $500,000 Grade II Oaklawn Handicap on April 13.

Richard’s runners

There are now co-leaders in the trainer standings after Chris Richard saddled two winners Thursday and is 9 for 22 at the meeting.

Cody Autrey also has nine victories.

Richard, however, said he doesn’t expect to finish at the top because he doesn’t have as much horsepower as other trainers.

“You can’t compete for a training title with 25 horses,” Richard said. “You know what? All I’m really concerned about is about the horses going out there and performing well. I’m really not worried about anything of that nature.”

Richard said he believed he was poised for a strong start at Oaklawn because he only won 6 of 70 starts last fall at Remington Park in Oklahoma City.

But those losses (Richard had 18 runner-up finishes) allowed many his horses to save their conditions for races at Oaklawn.

“I thought I had made some good claims at Remington that would fit in really good here,” Richard said. “And the claims that I have made have all run well, so I’ve got a little bit different class horse. I had some conditions coming in here. I thought if I could just get some good racing luck, I could start off the meet in really good shape.”

Richard was Oaklawn’s seventh-leading trainer last year, winning 17 of 65 starts.

Sure bet

Gentlemen’s Bet, owned by Harry Rosenblum of Little Rock, remained unbeaten in two lifetime starts with a front-running 21/2-length victory in Friday’s $54,000 first-level allowance/optional claiming feature for older sprinters.

Ridden by Robby Albarado, Gentlemen’s Bet ran 6 furlongs over a fast track in 1:10.62 and paid$6.20 to win.

The son of Half Ours was making his first start since a 7 1/4-length debut victory Jan. 5, 2012, at Gulfstream Park near Miami.

Gentlemen’s Bet was scheduled to make his 4-year-old debut Jan. 12, but Oaklawn canceled racing that day, and Jan. 13, after heavy rain created unsafe track conditions.

Shortly after his career debut victory, a small fracture was discovered in the colt’s right front ankle, Rosenblum said.

Rosenblum said Gentlemen’s Bet resumed training in late April, but suffered a minor setback, unrelated to the original injury, last summer and was freshened for an Oaklawn campaign.

Wayne Catalano saddled Gentlemen’s Bet in his career debut, but the colt is now trained by Ron Moquett of Hot Springs.

Hobby horses

Really Seriously represented the 997th career winner for trainer Steve Hobby of Hot Springs, when the 3-year-old filly won Friday’s fifth race.

Hobby, who saddled his first career winner in 1985, has two horses entered Sunday.

Devil and a half

Storm Devil, an unstarted 3-year-old half brother to multiple stakes winner Now I Know, worked 5 furlongs in 1:01.60 on Friday morning for trainer Don Von Hemel of Hot Springs.

Clockers caught Storm Devil covering his final 3 furlongs in :36.80 and galloping out 6 furlongs in 1:14.80.

Von Hemel, who also trained Now I Know, said Storm Devil is expected to make his career debut around March 1.

At a glance DAY 16

ATTENDANCE 5,182 ON-TRACK HANDLE $536,277.00 OFF-TRACK HANDLE $1,712,865.02 TOTAL HANDLE $2,249,142.02 CLASSIX CARRYOVER $4,821.71 FRIDAY’S STARS Robby Albarado and Ken Shino each rode two winners.

TODAY’S TIMES First post for the nine races is 1 p.m. Gates open at 11 a.m.

TODAY’S TELEVISION HRTV (full card) Oaklawn Today replays (8 p.m., Resort Cable Channel 5; 11 p.m., KARZ, Channel 42, Little Rock, 11 p.m.) TODAY’S RADIO Oaklawn Morning Line (8:45 a.m., KVRE-FM, 92.9, Hot Springs Village);

Oaklawn Race Day (11 a.m., KABZ-FM, 103.7, Little Rock) PRICES Admission ($2); parking in Oaklawn lots ($2); reserved seats ($4.50 weekends); programs ($2). Daily Racing Form on track ($5, $6.50); tip sheets ($2-$5)

Simulcast schedule

Tampa Bay Downs (11:25 a.m.), Aqueduct (11:30 a.m.), Gulfstream Park (11:45 a.m.), Turfway Park (4:30 p.m.), Fair Grounds (1 p.m.), Santa Anita (2:30 p.m.), Golden Gate Fields (2:45 p.m.), Penn National (5 p.m.), Delta Downs (5:45 p.m.), Palm Beach (6 p.m.), Charles Town (6:15 p.m.), Daytona Beach (6:25 p.m.), Sam Houston (6:30 p.m.), Southland (6:30 p.m.), Wheeling (6:30 p.m.).

WAGERING MENU

Win, place, show (all races)

Exacta (all races)

Trifecta (all races)

Superfecta (races 4, 6 and 9)

Daily double (races 1-2, 8-9)

CLASSIX (races 3-8)

Pick-3 (begins with races 4, 5 and 7)

Pick-4 (begins with race 6 on nine-race cards)

Sports, Pages 26 on 02/09/2013

Upcoming Events