At the post

Ricardo Santana Jr. is shown in this file photo.
Ricardo Santana Jr. is shown in this file photo.

DAY 35 of 57

THURSDAY'S ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 5,000

THURSDAY'S TOTAL HANDLE $3,455,581

THURSDAY'S ON-TRACK HANDLE $363,744

THURSDAY'S OFF-TRACK HANDLE #,091,837

TODAY'S SIMULCAST SCHEDULE Gulfstream Park, 11:35 a.m.; Tampa Bay, 11:35 a.m.; Laurel Park, 12:10 p.m.; Aqueduct, 12:20 p.m.; Fair Grounds, 1 p.m.; Santa Anita, 2 p.m.; Golden Gate, 2:15 p.m.; Penn National, 5 p.m.; Turfway Park, 5:15 p.m.; Charles Town, 6 p.m.; Daytona Beach (greyhounds), 6:25 p.m.; Derby Lane (greyhounds), 6:30 p.m.; Sam Houston, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY'S STARS

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. continued to build on his lead in the jockey standings Thursday with two victories, coming aboad Trading Cash in the sixth race and Harbor Lights in the eighth. Santana has 37 victories in the meet, which is 10 more than second-place jockey David Cabrera and 12 more than third-place jockey David Cohen.

Trainer Norman McKnight also had two victories Thursday with Cadillac Red in the fourth race and Bearsatlanticmist in the seventh. McKnight now has 10 victories during the meet to move into eighth place for trainer victories and has earned $317,663 in purses.

SPORTING CHANCE READY FOR REBEL

Before Sporting Chance made his 3-year-old debut in the Grade III $500,000 Southwest Stakes on Feb. 19, the colt's trainer, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, asked an observer to handicap the 1 1/16-mile race, the second of Oaklawn's four major preps for the Kentucky Derby.

After hearing the response, Lukas, a towering figure atop his pony during training hours, gave his betting strategy.

"Box six (horses)," Lukas said, clearly expecting an unexpected result. My Boy Jack, much more accomplished on turf, delivered just that, riding a sloppy track and golden rail to a 4 ½-length upset victory at odds of nearly 9-1.

Before training hours Thursday morning, Lukas was asked to handicap Saturday's Grade II $900,000 Rebel Stakes since Sporting Chance, who finished third in the Southwest, was among 11 horses entered Wednesday for the 1 1/16-mile race that will award 85 points to the top four finishers (50-20-10-5) toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby.

"I think you can narrow it down a little bit here without my handicapping, which is terrible," Lukas said. "It's a nice prep, it really is. Very competitive."

Sporting Chance is scheduled to break from post 7 under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who will be riding the colt for the first time.

CURLIN'S HONOR SET FOR STAKES DEBUT

John Oxley and Breeze Easy's undefeated Curlin's Honor will make his first start in stakes company and first beyond six furlongs in Saturday's Rebel Stakes.

The son of 2007 Rebel and Arkansas Derby winner and Hall of Famer Curlin was scheduled to ship on Thursday from Fair Grounds, where he won an allowance race on Feb. 25. In his only other start, Curlin's Honor won a Keeneland maiden race on Oct. 7.

"There are not a whole lot of (allowance race) options for (three-year-olds) that have won two races so you have to go in a stakes," trainer Mark Casse said. "Timing wise and distance wise, the Rebel is the best choice. And you never give up hope that this could be 'the one.' If he is to have any shot at the Kentucky Derby, he needs to run in this spot."

Curlin's Honor will be ridden for the first time by Florent Geroux, the nation's leading jockey in purse earnings this year.

"We've had a lot of luck with Florent and we are extremely happy to have him," Casse said.

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

photo

The Sentinel-Record file photo

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas is shown in this file photo.

Sports on 03/16/2018

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