HOT SPRINGS -- On many weekends, the Grade III $200,000 Honeybee Stakes and the $125,000 Hot Springs Stakes would stand on their own as featured races at Oaklawn Park.
Today, they act as prestigious stepping stones to more lucrative races a few weeks down the road.
The Hot Springs, a 6-furlong sprint for older horses, has a scheduled post of 3:39 p.m. and is a prelude to the $400,00 Count Fleet Handicap on April 15.
The Honeybee, for 3-year-old fillies, is set for 4:38, falls into the same prep category for the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes, scheduled for April 14.
The Fantasy also serves as a major prep for the Grade I $1 million Kentucky Oaks on May 5 at Churchill Downs.
Honeybee entrant Chenal's Legacy and Hot Springs runner Storm Advisory have three stakes victories between them this spring at Oaklawn, but trainer Lynn Chleborad of Chenal's Legacy and Robertino Diodoro of Storm Advisory said they know they are in deeper today.
Chenal's Legacy won Oaklawn's 1-mile Martha Washington Stakes on Feb. 11 at odds of 13-1, despite her 6-furlong Dixie Belle Stakes victory at Oaklawn on Jan. 21.
Chleborad said she knew there were concerns about Chenal Legacy's ability in route races formed by fourth-place finishes in two-turn races for 2 year-olds in Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Chleborad said she understood the questions. They still exist for her.
"People don't understand," Chleborad said. "A mile, a mile and a 16th, a mile and an 8th, it doesn't sound like that much difference, but when you run them, they just can't do it. That's why they run different distances. You have to go through the process. With three-year-olds, every day that everything goes your way is a good day. You just keep your fingers crossed."
Chenal Legacy's is listed at 8-1 on the morning line. Bill Mott trainee Elate ships in from Florida as the morning-line favorite at 5-2. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has sent It Tiz Well from Santa Anita Park in southern California as the second-choice at 3-1.
"I'm glad those horses are in there, because I want to see what she can do," Chleborad said. "I want to test her. If you're on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, you better see what you got."
Storm Advisory won Oaklawn's 6-furlong King Cotton Stakes on Feb. 4 at 12-1 odds. Like Chanel's Legacy, that stakes victory is not enough to make him a likely favorite today, though Storm Advisory does not have to contend with highly regarded shippers on the Hot Springs' morning line.
Whitmore, trained by Ron Moquett, became a star last season at Oaklawn on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and is listed as the 9-5 favorite in the Hot Springs.
Ivan Fallunovalot, a 7-year-old gelding who has multiple Oaklawn stakes victories, is the second-choice at 3-1.
"It's a tougher race," Diodoro said of the Hot Springs. "But at the same time, the horse is training great going into the race. We're hoping and thinking we'll get the same performance out of the horse again, but it is a tougher race."
Ivan Fallunovalot is coming off a fourth-place finish in the King Cotton off a 10-week layoff.
"I thought he was ready, but he wasn't," Howard said of the King Cotton. "Knock on wood, everything's going for him right now."
Sports on 03/11/2017