AT THE POST

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. surpassed $15 million in career purse earnings at Oaklawn with a victory Sunday on Fascilitator.
Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. surpassed $15 million in career purse earnings at Oaklawn with a victory Sunday on Fascilitator.

DAY 20 of 57

FRIDAY'S ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 6,000

FRIDAY'S TOTAL HANDLE $3,156,124

FRIDAY'S ON-TRACK HANDLE $414,454

FRIDAY'S OFF-TRACK HANDLE $2,741,670

TODAY'S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Gulfstream Park, 11 a.m.; Aqueduct, 11:20 a.m.; Laurel Park, 11:30 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Fair Grounds, 1 p.m.; Santa Anita, 2:30 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:45 p.m.; Penn National, 5 p.m.; Turfway Park, 5:15 p.m.; Delta Downs, 5:40 p.m.; Charles Town, 6 p.m.; Sam Houston, 6 p.m.; Daytona Beach (greyhounds), 6:25 p.m.; Derby Lane (greyhounds), 6:30 p.m.; Southland (greyhounds), 7:30 p.m.; Los Alamitos, 8 p.m.

FRIDAY'S STARS

Edgar Morales was the only jockey to win multiple races. He won the seventh race with Nobadeer ($6.80), covering 6 furlongs in 1:12.05. He won the ninth race with Bowman West ($75.20), covering 1 mile in 1:41.40. On the season, he has five victories in 64 starts. David Cabrera, who leads the jockey standings with 19 victories in 108 starts, won the second race with Oradained Kiss ($41.00). Leading trainer Brad Cox won the sixth race with Good Move. Ridden by Gary Stevens, Good Move ($5.40) covered 6 furlongs in 1:11.77. On the season, Cox had 13 victories in 37 starts.

PURSES INCREASED

Effective today, Oaklawn is increasing all allowance and maiden special weight races by $3,000. Allowance races will range from $79,000 to as high as $83,000. Maiden special weight races will increase to $78,000 from $75,000. In addition, all claiming races and maiden claiming races with a claiming price of at least $30,000 will receive a $2,000 per race boost. The increases mark the 18th consecutive year that Oaklawn has increased purses.

"Our goal is to offer the best purses in the country along with the most competitive racing," General Manager Wayne Smith said. "These increases are another step in that direction and our fans are responding. We are attracting some of the largest crowds in racing. And, our fans are getting to see some of the best owners, trainers and jockeys from all over the country competing for record purses. We couldn't be more excited heading into the final two months of our season."

The Presidents Day card on Monday will feature the $500,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes for 3-year-olds on the Kentucky Derby trail and the $500,000 Grade III Razorback Handicap, which last year launched the Horse of the Year campaign of Gun Runner. The 2018 meet runs through April 14.

Petrov returns Sunday

Multiple stakes runner-up Petrov is scheduled to launch his 4-year-old campaign in Sunday's eighth race at Oaklawn, an allowance/optional claimer for older horses at 6 furlongs. Co-owned and trained by Ron Moquett of Hot Springs, Petrov finished second in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes and $500,000 Southwest Stakes -- Oaklawn's first two major Kentucky Derby preps -- before concentrating on sprints last summer and fall. Petrov hasn't started since finishing last of nine in the $200,000 Steel Valley Sprint Stakes Nov. 20 at Mahoning Valley under Eclipse Award-winning jockey Jose Ortiz.

"Got wiped out," Moquett said, referring to traffic trouble in the upper stretch. "It was a weird surface and we got taken out and just lost all shot, so the jockey just took care of us." Moquett said he decided to sprint Petrov in his comeback spot because of the way he's been training. Petrov won allowance races sprinting in August at Saratoga and in October at Keeneland. Petrov has recorded two 1/2-mile works this month, the last a :47.20 bullet Feb. 9.

Petrov, a gray son of Flatter, has a 3-3-1 record from 12 lifetime starts and earnings of $397,527. He is scheduled to face six rivals Sunday, including 2017 Smarty Jones winner Uncontested and Storm Advisory, winner of the $125,000 King Cotton Stakes for older sprinters last year at Oaklawn.

$15 million man

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. surpassed $15 million in career purse earnings at Oaklawn with his victory aboard Fascilitator ($5.60) in Sunday's seventh race for Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Santana ($15,027,019) began riding at Oaklawn in 2011 and has won five consecutive riding titles in Hot Springs.

According to Equibase, racing's official data organization, Santana has 357 victories from 1,907 mounts at Oaklawn. He set a single-season Oaklawn record for purse earnings ($4,064,073) in 2016, a meet capped by his biggest victory to date aboard Creator in the $1 million Arkansas Derby. Fascilitator, a son of 2011 Oaklawn Rebel winner The Factor, was Santana's 952nd North American victory, according to Equibase. A native of Panama, Santana, 25, began riding in the United States in 2009.

Warrior's Club sharp

Warrior's Club returned to work Friday morning, covering a half-mile in company in :48.80 over a muddy surface moments after the track opened for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Warrior's Club was a sharp 3 ¾-length winner of his last start, a Feb. 8 allowance/optional claiming sprint, under Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens. Lukas said Wednesday morning that he is under consideration for the $125,000 Hot Springs Stakes for older sprinters March 10. Warrior's Club races for the non-profit Churchill Downs Racing Club, which was formed in the spring of 2016 to give fans an opportunity to experience lost-cost, lost-risk ownership. The 200 memberships for a one-time cost of $500 were sold out in one day.

Privately purchased for $55,000, Warrior's Club broke his maiden in the $300,000 Spendthrift Stallion Stakes in October 2016 at Churchill Downs, was an allowance winner last March at Oaklawn, second in the $150,000 Northern Spur Stakes last April at Oaklawn and a strong second to 2017 Dubai World Cup third Neolithic in an allowance race last August at Saratoga. Overall, Warrior's Club, a 4-year-old son of Warrior's Reward, has a 4-4-4 record from 20 lifetime starts and earnings of $365,379.

Information for this report was contributed by the Oaklawn media department.

Sports on 02/17/2018

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