HOT SPRINGS, Ark.—The Oaklawn racing department listed six probables Saturday morning for the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 10. Post positions for the 1 1/8-mile race, Oaklawn’s fourth and final Kentucky Derby points event, will be drawn Tuesday.
The Arkansas Derby will offer 170 points (100-40-20-10, respectively) to the top four finishers toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby.
Concert Tour remained unbeaten in three career starts with a front-running 4 ¼-length winner of the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) March 13 at Oaklawn. It was a record-extending eighth Rebel victory for Baffert, who also finished second in the 1 1/16-mile race with Hozier.
Super Stock, Caddo River and Get Her Number ran fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively, in the Rebel, which is Oaklawn’s third Kentucky Derby points race.
A Tex Sutton Equine Air Transport flight carrying Southern California-based Concert Tour, Get Her Number and Hozier is scheduled to arrive Wednesday.
Caddo River won Oaklawn’s first Kentucky Derby points race, the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 22, by a record 10 ¼ lengths. A homebred for John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs, Caddo River completed major preparations for the Arkansas Derby with a 5-furlong work, in company, over a fast track Saturday morning at Oaklawn under Francisco Arrieta.
Caddo River, who breezed with stablemate Night Ops, a multiple-stakes winning older horse, covered the distance in 1:00.20 and galloped out 6 furlongs in 1:13.40. The half-mile split was :47.80.
“He worked well,” said Jorgito Abrego, who oversees Cox’s Oaklawn division.
Anthony has won the Arkansas Derby a record three times (1980, 1987 and 1992).
Arkansas Derby Field
Post, horse (sire) – position on Derby Leaderboard/points – trainer – jockey – PP, MLO
1. Super StockS (Dialed In) – #41/9 points – Steve Asmussen – Joe Talamo – 4th Rebel Stakes G2, 12-1
2. Caddo River (Hard Spun) – 36/10 points – Brad Cox – Florent Geroux – 5th Rebel, 7/2
3. Hozier (Pioneerof the Nile) – #26/20 points – Bob Baffert – Martin Garcia – 2nd Rebel, 4-1
4. Get Her Number (Dialed In) – #33/10 points – Peter Miller – Francisco Arrieta – 7th Rebel, 12-1
5. Concert Tour (Street Sense) – #13/50 points – Bob Baffert – Joel Rosario – 1st Rebel, 3/5
6. Last Samuri (Malibu Moon) – N/A – Dallas Stewart – John Court – 5th Southwest Stakes G3, 30-1
The Arkansas Derby is one of four stakes April 10 at Oaklawn, the others being the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older horses at 6 furlongs, $400,000 Oaklawn Mile for older horses and the $250,000 Carousel for older fillies and mares at 6 furlongs.
Due to Covid, in 2020, the Arkansas Derby was run in two divisions on the first Saturday in May.
2020 Arkansas Derby — First Division — Charlatan wins.
2020 Arkansas Derby — Second Division — Nadal wins.
Three other stakes on the card
Whitmore, an Eclipse Award winner as the country’s champion male sprinter of 2020, and C Z Rocket are scheduled to renew their rivalry in the Count Fleet. Whitmore and C Z Rocket ran 1-2, respectively, in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland. C Z Rocket turned the tables on Whitmore in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes March 13. Whitmore is seeking his fourth Count Fleet victory.
One Oaklawn Mile probable, Blackberry Wine, worked a half-mile in :46.60 Saturday morning at Oaklawn for trainer Joe Sharp.
Multiple graded stakes winner Frank’s Rockette is expected to head the Carousel. Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Frank’s Rockette won the $150,000 American Beauty Stakes Jan. 30 at Oaklawn in her 4-year-old debut. The daughter of Into Mischief is a homebred for prominent North Little Rock, Ark., businessman Frank Fletcher.
Post positions for the other three stakes were also drawn on Tuesday.
by Robert Yates/Oaklawn/Edited
Photo: Concert Tour wins the Rebel handily by 4 1/4 lengths (Coady Photography)
