Oaklawn Barn Notes: Zing Zang Works Toward Rebel

By Jennifer Hoyt —-

Zing Zang Works Toward Rebel

Jackpot Ranch’s Zing Zang completed major preparations for Saturday’s $900,000 Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds by working a half-mile in :50.80 over a fast track Monday morning at Oaklawn for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Asmussen said he would also like the gray son of super sire Tapit to have a fast track for the 1 1/16-mile Rebel, Oaklawn’s final major prep for the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 14.
The late-running Zing Zang finished fifth, beaten 8 ¼ lengths by My Boy Jack, in the $500,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) Feb. 19, a 1 1/16-mile race that was run over a muddy, sealed surface.

According to weatherunderground.com, there is a 40 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms Saturday afternoon, with temperatures approaching 80 degrees.

“That’s what we’re really hoping for,” Asmussen said of a fast racing surface. “He’s as heavy a horse as I have in training, and I don’t necessarily think that body type appreciates a quagmire.”

Zing Zang was racing on off track for the first time in the Southwest, Oaklawn’s second major two-turn test for 3-year-olds. Zing Zang broke his maiden at a mile and 70 yards Dec. 16 at Fair Grounds before finishing fourth, beaten seven lengths, in the $200,000 Lecomte Stakes (G3) Jan. 13 at Fair Grounds.

The Rebel will award 85 points to the top four finishers (50-20-10-5) toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby.

Whitmore’s Wizardry

Whitmore ran the fastest 6 furlongs ever at Oaklawn in January during the 2017 meeting and his comeback victory in Saturday’s $125,000 Hot Springs Stakes for older sprinters produced one of Oaklawn’s fastest 6-furlong times in March.

Whitmore ran the distance in 1:08.57 – equaling the stakes record for fifths of a second – just off the 1:08.56 Chief of Affairs ran in winning the 2011 Hot Springs, which was contested March 20.

Double Ready (1:08.40) set the stakes record in 1984, when the race was run in late February, and Dear Rick, a little less than three weeks later, ran 1:08.20 in winning an allowance race by 16 ½ lengths.

Times were recorded in fifths of a second during the 1984 meeting, with Dear Rick running 1:08 1/5 in his allowance romp and Double Ready 1:08 2/5 in the Hot Springs.

Charts from Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization, have featured times in hundredths of a second since 1991. In fifths of a second, Whitmore’s time Saturday equaled Double Ready and Chief of Affairs.

Whitmore ran 1:08.81 to win his 4-year-old debut, a Jan. 15, 2017, allowance race at Oaklawn before capturing the Hot Springs by six lengths in his next start. The Pleasantly Perfect gelding didn’t have the benefit of a prep this year since he was making his first start since finishing eighth in the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 4 at Del Mar.

Ron Moquett, who co-owns and trains Whitmore, said he was about “75 percent” cranked for the Hot Springs, with the major spring objective being a repeat victory in the $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) April 14.

“But, I know him, and I know that his class will get him the rest of the way,” Moquett said. “My job is to get him there happy and make sure he has enough to battle because that’s what he likes to do. From that point on, he’ll do the rest.”

Under five-time defending Oaklawn riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr., Whitmore finished a neck ahead of Wynn Time and paid $4.80 as the favorite. Moquett said the most surprising part of the race was Whitmore being so close to a rapid pace set by Ivan Fallunovalot and jockey Jon Court, who led through fractions of :21.64 for the opening quarter and :44.21 for a half-mile. Whitmore was only a half-length behind after a quarter-mile and trailed by 1 ½ lengths turning for home.

“Ricardo knew Jon’s pretty cagey,” Moquett said. “He’s a smart guy.”

The victory, Whitmore’s ninth from 17 starts, raised his career earnings to $1,287,000. The 5-year-old gelding races for Moquett’s Southern Springs Stables, Robert LaPenta and Head of Plains Partners LLC (Sol Kumin).Whitmore, who received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 102 for his Hot Springs victory, is unbeaten in five sprint starts at Oaklawn, running under 1:09 for 6 furlongs in his last four races.

Moquett also won the Hot Springs in 2015 with Gentlemen’s Bet.

Karen’s Tom (1:07 4/5 or 1:07.80) set Oaklawn’s 6-furlong track record in the $50,000 Bachelor Stakes for 3-year-olds April 16, 1990.

Nearing a Milestone

Cosmic Burst represented trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel’s 297th career Oaklawn victory in Saturday’s $200,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization.

Von Hemel started his first horse at Oaklawn in 1985 and won his first race in Hot Springs in 1987. Cosmic Burst, who races for Norma Lee Stockseth and Todd Dunn, gave Von Hemel his 25th Oaklawn stakes victory and third in the Honeybee, according to Equibase.

From the first crop of Violence, Cosmic Burst ($10.80) was coming off a disappointing third-place finish in the $125,000 Martha Washington Stakes Feb. 10 in her 3-year-old debut. She had been previously unbeaten in three route races, including the $100,000 Trapeze Stakes Dec. 17 at Remington Park, but was racing over a sloppy track for the first time last month.

Although rain was expected Saturday, Cosmic Burst got a dry track and topped previously unbeaten Amy’s Challenge, by 1 ¾ lengths.

“I was suffering the weather forecast all week long,” Von Hemel said. “If you looked five, six days ago, it was 80, 90, 100 percent, whatever it was. And then each day, it got a little bit less. We snuck it in and got it done.”

Cosmic Burst, who was ridden by Richard Eramia, has a 4-1-1 record from six starts and career earnings of $267,080.

Von Hemel said Cosmic Burst will be pointed for the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) April 13, the final local prep for the $1 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 4 at Churchill Downs. Cosmic Burst ranks fourth on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 52 points. She earned 50 points for her Honeybee victory.

Smack Talk

Sonny Smack has already done what his heralded big brother hasn’t – and that’s win at Oaklawn.

Sonny Smack, a homebred for country music star Toby Keith’s Dream Walkin Farms, Inc., saved ground en route to 1 ¼-length career debut victory in Friday’s sixth race, a 1-mile maiden special weights event for 3-year-olds, under C.J. McMahon.

“Sonny Smack ran a heck of a race,” trainer Don Von Hemel of Hot Springs said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better ride, either. He put up a fantastic ride.”

Von Hemel also trains Sonny Smack’s half-brother, Smack Smack, a Dream Walkin homebred who is a multiple stakes winner of $982,159.

Smack Smack is winless in eight career starts at Oaklawn, although the gelding does have four runner-up finishers, including last year’s $125,000 Fifth Season Stakes. Smack Smack won his debut at 4 ½ furlongs as a 2-year-old, but Von Hemel opted to begin Sonny Smack’s career around two turns.

“I didn’t want to run him short and have him, ‘Hurrying, hurrying, hurrying,’ ” Von Hemel said. “Sometimes, it’s easier on a horse to go a mile because he’s going to be able to change leads twice and rest a little bit. I’ve done that a few times in the past and it’s worked. Even if he got beat, I’d rather not hurry him and get him speed crazy.”

Von Hemel said he hopes to run Sonny Smack, a son of Successful Appeal, once more before the meeting ends April 14. Sonny Smack ($17.20) ran the mile over a fast track in 1:39.50.

Von Hemel said he had hoped to launch Smack Smack’s 7-year-old campaign toward the end of the meeting, but the Closing Argument gelding isn’t far enough along in his training and is now targeting a spring return at Prairie Meadows.

Von Hemel has never trained a millionaire in a career that spans more than 50 years.
Ricardo’s Rides

Through the first 35 days of the meeting, five-time defending riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr. is ahead of his numbers from the corresponding period last year.

Santana leads all riders at the meet in victories (35), purse earnings ($1,845,065) and is tied for first in mounts (177). Through the same number of race days in 2017, Santana, from 139 mounts, ranked second in victories (30) and was first in purse earnings ($1,272,077). He finished with 53 victories and a meet-best $2,753,797 in purse earnings.

“I think we’re going to finish strong, I really believe that,” said Santana’s agent, Ruben Munoz.

Santana, 25, has ridden regularly at Oaklawn since 2011 and set a single-season record for purse earnings at the 2016 meeting ($4,064,073) when he rode 80 winners, a career high in Hot Springs.

According to Equibase, racing’s official data organization, Santana has 378 victories and $16,111,944 in purse earnings from 2,004 mounts at Oaklawn.

Santana, who rides first call for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, surpassed $16 million in purse earnings when he guided Whitmore to a neck victory in Saturday’s $125,000 Hot Springs Stakes for older sprinters. His 2,000th career mount came two races later aboard Stronger Than Ever in the $200,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies.

“This year, I’m prouder than ever,” Munoz said. “Being at Saratoga has helped. Ricardo has improved so much. He’s so much more serene on a horse … which makes a big difference. That shows maturity.”
Santana has ridden regularly the last two summers at the prestigious Saratoga meeting in upstate New York.

Santana has 973 career North American victories since his first in 2009, according to Equibase.

Finish Lines

Weather permitting, the infield will be open each Saturday for the remainder of the meeting that ends April 14. It is also scheduled to be open April 13. … Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who recorded his 7,000th career North American victory April 1, 2015, at Oaklawn, is now at 7,953, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. Asmussen has led the Oaklawn standings eight times since 2007 and has a meet-best 21 victories this year, one more than Robertino Diodoro and Brad Cox. … Cox ($1,090,901) became the second trainer at the meet to reach $1 million in purse earnings Sunday, the 35th day racing. … Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens ($1,007,023) became the third rider to reach $1 million in purse earnings at the meet Sunday. … Husky Clipper equaled the track record for 1 3/16 miles, based on time in fifths of a second, in Saturday’s fifth race, a starter allowance, for owner/trainer John E. Cox. Husky Clipper ($81.80) covered the seldom-run distance at Oaklawn in 1:57 2/5 over fast track, matching Brassy’s time from March 29, 1952. Husky Clipper’s time in hundredths was 1:57.48. Husky Clipper won a starter/optional claimer at 1 ½ miles during the 2017 Oaklawn meeting. Tommy Pompell was aboard for both victories. … Through 35 days at the meeting, 275 claims have totaled $4,276,250.