HOT SPRINGS -- Contesting a horse race, selling an automobile or running for political office can wear out the hardiest soul, Steve Landers can relate.
The Little Rock automobile dealer and who ran for mayor of the city on 2022, claimed one of Arkansas racing's gaudiest jewels Saturday with Patton's Tizzy in the 52nd $150,000 Rainbow Stakes at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.
Like Rainbow Miss winner Hush It Honey two races earlier, Patton's Tizzy is by Paynter and not yet 3 years old by the calendar (May 6). But running against fellow state-breds four times this year in Hot Springs, he has won his past two starts.
North Little Rock truck executive James Glover bred Patton's Tizzy, produced by the Half Ours mare Uncomplicated.
But what's trainer Brad Cox doing in an Arkansas-bred stake when his energies are divided between horses at several tracks? Though winning the Rainbow a second time, his name does not come up with owners Herman J. Udoul or Dash Goff or trainer Jinks Fires when discussing Arkansas horses.
But like John Ed Anthony, Landers sought expert help as a horse owner. Cox, only 44, has won two Eclipse Awards as champion trainer with a Breeders' Cup Classic and Belmont Stakes win each on the square and a Kentucky Derby win (with Mandaloun in 2021) through the mail after a rival's disqualification.
Patton's Tizzy turned the tables on two horses, Twenty to Park and Rocket Sanders, that drubbed him when he finished third Jan. 12 in the slop. Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey Abel Concepcion rode Patton's Tizzy to a March 17 maiden victory, but original rider Martin Chuan was back aboard in the Rainbow for his first Oaklawn stakes victory and Cox's sixth of the meeting.
"It doesn't cost anything to try, so we tried it," Landers said, relating a conversation with Cox. "Martin rode him great and Patton's Tizzy improved over the last out. Horses young like that will improve from one race to another and he improved today."
Prominent from the rail post after breaking sharply, Patton's Tizzy, a bay gelding, nosed out Landlord, who was closing fast under Keith Asmussen for Ron Moquett and Van Buren owners Rita and Everett Young.
Chez Whiz. with Harry Hernandez, placed third at 43-1 for Ronnie Cravens III. Twenty to Park, nine-length debut winner for Hot Springs owner Staton Flurry and trainer Matt Shirer, flattened out in the stretch and ran fourth as $2.10-to-1 favorite in a 10-horse field.
Running six furlongs in 1:11.88, Patton's Tizzy paid $24.20, $9 and $7.40. The exacta paid $50.90 and the trifecta returned $251.45. Landlord returned $5.20 and $3.80, while Chez Whiz paid $11.60 to show.
RAINBOW MISS
'Honey' of a finish
Hush It Honey and Haulin Ice finally met Saturday at Oaklawn, and their stretch duel in the 46th $150,000 Rainbow Miss Stakes is one of the season's keepsakes.
The 3-year-old fillies, foaled a month apart in 2021, each with multiple wins, created an instant classic two days before Mother Nature produces another with a solar eclipse.
Hush It Honey, keeping a straight course under Rafael Bejarano. used her tactical speed to maximum advantage and prevailed by three quarters of a length.
Haulin Ice, a need-the-lead type, was overtaken coming out of the turn and lost further energy under Francisco Arrieta when ducking inside at a crucial moment. They finished the fast-rated six furlongs in 1:10.92.
"As soon as I got into the stretch, I attacked the other horse because I think the other horse [Haulin Ice] doesn't like the pressure," Bejarano saod. "My horse always likes to fight and that's why she won the race."
The track linemaker guessed the betting pattern correctly with favorite Haulin Ice at 4-5 and Hush It Honey 6-5.
In her first start against state-breds, Hush It Honey paid $4.40, $2.20 and $2.10, keying a $1 exacta worth $2.60 and a 50-cent trifecta with Sthenic returning $3.90. Fourth-place Presleys Turn completed a $4.89 dime superfecta.
Haulin Ice paid $2.20 and $2.10, and Sthenic returned $3.
Randy Morse saddled his third stakes winner of the season, all with distaffers (older Arkie Kantex in the Downthedustyroad Breeders' and Alpernia in the Purple Martin), He is listed as co-owner with Kansan Randy Patterson. Hush It Honey's sire, Too Much Bling, won the Springboard Mile at Remington Park for trainer Danele Durham.
Hush It Honey (by Paynter, a Bob Baffert-trained runner who also sired the Rainbow Miss winner's dam, Waters Fine) raced three times in Kentucky last year. Her maiden victory came at a mile in her second start, repeating two by two lengths on Oaklawn's all-juvenile card Dec. 31. A Kentucky Oaks prep (last of nine around two turns in the Martha Washington, in the slop to boot) proved too demanding, but a near five-length sprint victory March 21 restored the winning feeling.
Haulin Ice, a March 14 Coal Front runner bred by Eugenia Thompson-Benight, sought a third straight win against a second-place finish since her Jan. 26 unveiling for trainer Lindsay Schultz.