Toews On Ice (left) finishing second in the Los Alamitos Futurity (gr. I) – © Benoit Photo
Get ready, racing fans! On Monday, Oaklawn Park’s road to the Kentucky Derby will begin with the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, an eight-furlong race that serves as the first of four official Derby prep races at Oaklawn.
As expected, the Smarty Jones drew a deep and contentious field of fourteen up-and-coming three-year-olds, led by the three-time stakes winner Toews On Ice. Trained by Bob Baffert, who has dominated Oaklawn’s Kentucky Derby prep races over the last several years, Toews On Ice has achieved all of his victories in sprint races, but did stretch out to finish second in the 8.5-furlong Los Alamitos Futurity (gr. I) on December 19th, a performance that indicates he should have no trouble with the distance of the Smarty Jones.
But to win the race, Toews On Ice will have to defeat a very talented group of Oaklawn-based runners that is led by Synchrony, who won a 7 1/2-furlong allowance race at Churchill Downs in determined fashion on November 14th. Black Ops, Gray Sky, and Knights Key, three impressive maiden winners at Churchill Downs, have also been entered, along with Remington Springboard Mile Stakes winner Discreetness.
Whitmore, who broke his maiden by 7 1/4 lengths at Churchill before finishing fifth in the Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes (gr. III), has been entered in the Smarty Jones but is not certain to run. According to the Oaklawn Barn Notes for January 14th, Whitmore has been cross-entered in a January 16th allowance race at Oaklawn and could run there instead.
The complete field for the Smarty Jones is as follows:
$150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes
PP, Horse, Jockey, Trainer
1 Luna de Loco, Ricardo Santana Jr., Steve Asmussen
2 Toews On Ice, Martin Garcia, Bob Baffert
3 Gordy Florida, G. Corbett, K. Smith
4 Charming Deputy, S. Sanjur, J. Haran
5 Discreetness, Jon Court, W. Fires
6 Back Togetheragain, S. Laviolette, W. Howard
7 Black Ops, Calvin Borel, Rodney Richards
8 Synchrony, Shaun Bridgmohan, Donnie K. Von Hemel
9 Whitmore, D. Osorio, Ron Moquett
10 Gray Sky, Terry Thompson, D. Wayne Lukas
11 Shogood, C. Emigh, S. Becker
12 Cutacorner, Q. Hamilton, Jack Van Berg
13 Force It, J. Felix, C. Winebaugh
14 Knights Key, Joe Rocco Jr., Steve Hobby
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