HOT SPRINGS -- The winner had to overcome a long layoff and a star-studded field.
Ten Broeck Farm's Kimari, a former juvenile-turf specialist who had not raced in five months, used a display of talent up to the task to pass two other heavily credentialed frontrunners late in the race and win the $100,000 6-furlong Purple Martin Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over a sloppy track in 1:10.57 before a crowd of none at Oaklawn on Saturday.
Fans have been barred from the racing facility and grounds of Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort since March 13 as part of the track's response to the new coronavirus pandemic. The Purple Martin was run on the 14th consecutive racing day at the track with nothing but essential personnel and media in attendance.
Prerace focus and betting interests centered on Frank Fletcher's three-time graded-stakes-placed Frank's Rockette, the 7-5 favorite, Breeder's Cup fourth-place juvenile turf sprinter Kimari, the one-race but genuine wonder Edgeway, a son of Competitive Edge trained by John Sadler, and Ring Leader, Oaklawn's 6-furlong Dixie Belle Stakes winner trained by Mac Robertson.
Kamari, ridden by Channing Hill at 5-2, passed Edgeway and Frank's Rockette 50 yards from the wire to win by 1 3/4 lengths over second-place Frank's Rockette. Edgeway was third, a neck behind Frank's Rockette and 4 3/4 lengths in front of fourth-place 67-1 Wasabi Girl.
Ring Leader stumbled at the start and finished eighth in the nine-horse field, 16 lengths behind the winner.
Kimari, a daughter of Munnings trained by Wesley Ward, had not raced on dirt since April 25, early in her 2-year-old campaign. Kimari next won three consecutive turf starts before she finished fourth in the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 1.
Kimari's 5-furlong work in 58.00 and 6 furlongs breezed in 1:12.20 at Gulfstream Park West last month were enough to enrich Ward's confidence.
"I'm kind of a positive guy anyways, but after seeing those two works, I knew it would take a really, really tough filly to beat her," Ward said.
Frank's Rockette was first out of the gate but Edgeway had a nose in front shortly thereafter and led by a length through the first-quarter mile in 21.63. Frank's Rockette was next, a head in front of Bootytama in third. Kimari was in sixth, 3 1/2 lengths off the lead.
Edgeway, ridden by Tyler Baze, led by a head over Frank's Rockette through the half in 45.26. Bootytama, at 33-1, remained in third, another head back but would fade to fifth, 8 3/4 lengths behind the winner at the wire.
Edgeway had won gate to wire under Baze in a 6-furlong optional-claiming race at Oaklawn in 1:09.05 on Feb. 29 in her first and only other career start, and she led at the head of the stretch in the Purple Martin. In her previous start, Edgeway stretched her lead in the lane, but she was in much deeper company this time.
Frank's Rockette, ridden by Martin Garcia, had a nose in front with 3/16ths left and would maintain that edge to the finish, but Kimari began to unwind, caught and passed Edgeway and Frank's Rockette, and pulled away.
"To be honest with you, at the top of the lane, I wasn't 100 percent sure how much horse I had, especially compared to how much [Garcia] had because Martin hadn't gotten after [Frank's Rockette] yet," Hill said. "Once I started reeling her in, and once my filly got to her, it was over from there. This filly has a lot of class. Obviously, she's got a ton of talent, but she also has the class to match."
The Purple Martin was Frank's Rockette sixth career start for Fletcher. From Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott's stable, her record stands at 2-4-0.
"This little filly, so far, has run her heart out," Fletcher said Friday.
In part because of limited racing opportunities nationwide from multiple track closures, each in deference to the worsening pandemic, the quality of the Purple Martin field significantly surpassed that typical of $100,000 stakes races.
"I think this was the deepest and most talented Purple Martin Stakes we've ever had," Oaklawn track announcer Vic Stauffer said. "There could be four or five graded-stakes winners come out of this race and maybe even a champion."
Fletcher of North Little Rock said Friday he thought the Purple Martin would feature the nation's best three-year-old filly sprinters. With four weeks of racing left in Oaklawn's season, which ends on May 2, Stauffer said the Purple Martin likely offered a preview for a run of races at the track deep in talent.
"If you have a talented horses in training, you have to run them here," Stauffer said. "Nancy [Holthus] gave a great quote today on the show. She called it like a Dubai World Cup festival type, except for North America. If you've got a really good horse, you're going to bring that horse to Oaklawn, and you're going to see that more and more as the meet continues."
Sports on 04/05/2020