DAY 28
TODAY’S CLASSIX CARRYOVER None TODAY’S WAGERING MENU Win-placeshow, exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagering offered on all races. Daily double (races 1-2, 8-9). CLASSIX (races 3-8). Pick-3 (rolling begins with race 2). Pick-4 (races 2-5 races 6-9).
TODAY’S SIMULCASTING SCHEDULE 11:25 a.m. Tampa Bay, 12:20 p.m. Aqueduct, 1:25 p.m. Fair Grounds, 1:50 p.m. Hawthorne, 2:45 p.m. Golden Gate, 3 p.m. Santa Anita, 5 p.m. Penn National, 5:15 p.m. Turfway Park, 5:45 p.m. Wheeling (greyhounds), 5:50 p.m. Delta Downs, 6:05 p.m. Charles Town, 7:05 p.m. Sam Houston, 7:30 p.m. Southland (greyhounds). 9:00 p.m. Los Alamitos
NO DECISION YET
Oaklawn Park Director of Racing David Longinotti said today’s card most likely will be determined by how cold it was overnight. Track officials will meet with horsemen around 9 a.m. to discuss the situation, but if the overnight lows hit the teens as forecast, the chances for racing decrease. “The colder it gets the more difficult it gets to get the track prepared,” Longinotti said. Thursday’s high temperature in Hot Springs reached 40 degrees and much of the snow melted off the track and the parking lots at Oaklawn. Longinotti said the track maintenance crew tried to squeeze the moisture out of the track to limit or prevent a hard freeze overnight. Today’s forecast high is 45 degrees under sunny skies.
DOWNTHEDUSTYROAD
Fourteen fillies and mares, including a three-horse entry for trainer William Martin, are entered in today’s $75,000 Downthedustyroad Breeders Stakes for Arkansas-breds 3 years old and up. The 6-furlong race was originally scheduled to be run last Saturday, along with the $75,000 Nodouble Breeders’ Stakes for Arkansas-bred colts and geldings, which has been rescheduled for Sunday. Martin’s entry of Faith Rising, Easter Indy and Easter Shoes is listed at 4-1 in the morning line. Easter Shoes is coming off a victory in a 6-furlong statebred allowance Jan. 29 at Oaklawn. The 5-year-old mare has won 5 of 7 races lifetime. Pistonpackinpenny, a 5-yearold mare trained by Jinks Fires, is the 3-1 program favorite after a fourth-place finish against open company Jan. 16 and a second-place finish in a $64,000 state-bred allowance going 1 mile Feb. 19. The 7-2 program favorite is Jan’s Perfect Star, a 5-year-old mare who won 4 of 10 races lifetime and has earned $173,433. Jan’s Perfect Star returned from a 12-month layoff Feb. 6, pressed the lead for 4 furlongs but was eased. Cliff Berry has the mount for trainer Randy Morse, who has put Jan’s Perfect Star through three workouts since the Feb. 6 race.
FINAL FURLONG
Saturday is a big day for 3-year-old fillies at Oaklawn Park with the Grade III Honeybee Stakes, but Kentucky Derby preps rule the day nationally. Road to the Derby points (on a 50-20-10-5 scale) will be distributed to the top four finishers in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct in New York City and the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs. … Juvenile filly champion Take Charge Brandi was not entered in the Honeybee and is being pointed to the March 14 Rebel Stakes, where she would meet males for the first time. “I really want to find out how good she is,” owner Willis Horton told Oaklawn Park’s media department. “If she can beat the boys, I think her better chance of doing that is early than later in the year, because the boys will start really gaining. I’m just wanting to take a chance on beating the boys. I’m just trying to build her resume up.” Take Charge Brandi worked 5 furlongs in 1:01.80 Monday morning, her third work since winning the Martha Washington Stakes on Jan. 31.