OAKLAWN: WHITMORE SEEKS TO DEFEND COUNT FLEET SPRINT TITLE

By Jennifer Hoyt —-

HOT SPRINGS, AR (Friday, April 13, 2018) – Defending champion Whitmore will try to remain perfect in one-turn races at Oaklawn in Saturday’s $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap for older horses.

Probable post time for the 6-furlong Count Fleet, the ninth of 12 races on the closing-day card, is 5:09 p.m. (Central). Doors open Saturday at 10:30 a.m., with a special first post of 12:35 p.m. Weather permitting, the infield will be open.

Co-owned and trained by Ron Moquett of Hot Springs, Whitmore has never lost in five sprint races at Oaklawn, including last year’s Count Fleet and the $125,000 Hot Springs Stakes March 10 in his 5-year-old debut.

Moquett has been pointing Whitmore for the Count Fleet since he concluded his 2017 campaign with an eighth-place finish in the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 4 at Del Mar.

Whitmore, the 7-5 program favorite, is scheduled to break from post 4 under Ricardo Santana Jr. and carry top weight of 121 pounds.

“Looking forward to the race,” Moquett said. “We’ve had great training getting to the race. Happy to have Santana win his 1,000th.”

Moquett was referring to Santana’s 1,000th career North American victory aboard Mitole for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen in Thursday’s $150,000 Bachelor Stakes. Santana, who has clinched his sixth consecutive Oaklawn riding title, rode Whitmore in last year’s Count Fleet.

Saturday’s projected six-horse field: Ivan Fallunovalot, Luis Contreras to ride, 119 pounds, 4-1 on the morning line; Wings Locked Up, Alex Canchari, 115, 15-1; Wynn Time, Marcelino Pedroza, 116, 9-2; Whitmore, Ricardo Santana Jr., 121, 7-5; Wilbo, David Cabrera, 118, 6-1; and Smart Spree, Ramon Vazquez, 117, 3-1.

Smart Spree, a 7-year-old son of Smart Strike for trainer Norman McKnight, will be making his first start in a stakes since August 2014 when the gelding finished 10th in the Breeders’ Stakes, a 1 ½-mile turf race that is the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Smart Spree has subsequently spent most of his career running over Woodbine’s synthetic surface before blossoming this winter and spring in his return to dirt. He has recorded three front-running victories at the meet, the last in allowance/optional claiming company March 29.

McKnight, Woodbine’s leading trainer last year, said he decided to wheel the gelding back in the Count Fleet after he came out of the race in good shape.

“He’s coming up to this race, I think, in good order,” McKnight said. “I just thought it was a lot of money and it looked like it was going to be a short field. We’re stabled here and he’s doing good over the track. He seems to have a love for the surface. I just felt it was no better time to take the shot at the $400,000. We had nothing to lose.”

Wynn Time was beaten a neck in the Hot Springs – his stakes debut – after winning five of his first six career starts.

“I thought he ran great,” trainer Mac Robertson said. “He’s a fast horse.”

The popular Ivan Fallunovalot ($998,903 in career earnings) will become a millionaire if he starts in the race. The gelding ran second in the 2015 Count Fleet.

Wilbo ran fifth in the Hot Springs after beating Ivan Fallunovalot in the $125,000 King Cotton Stakes Feb. 3 for 2015 Oaklawn training champion Chris Hartman.

Cover Photo: Whitmore; Coady Photography