Arkansas Derby: No Derby, no problem; Fantasy, Oaklawn Mile, Matron Recaps

by Robert Yates

Muth; Renee Torbit Photo

For Immediate Release

HOT SPRINGS, AR (Saturday, March 30, 2024) – No Derby, no problem.

Zedan Racing Stables’ Muth, running for purse dollars and style points only, gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert his record-tying fifth Arkansas Derby victory before an estimated crowd of 60,000 on an overcast but warm Saturday afternoon.

Under regular rider Juan Hernandez, Muth finished two lengths ahead of Just Steel, a 32-1 long shot for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. It was another 4 ¼ lengths farther back to Mystik Dan in fourth.

Owing to Baffert’s suspension from Churchill Downs, Muth was ineligible to collect any of the 200 Kentucky Derby qualifying points up for grabs in the $1.5 million Grade 1 race, thus he can’t run in the first leg of the Triple Crown. The suspension stems from the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit being disqualified from his 2021 Kentucky Derby victory for a medication violation.

Muth, the $2 million sale topper at the OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training, was the 8-5 program favorite for the Arkansas Derby. Muth ($6.60) was sent off the 2-1 second choice in the 10-horse field.

Timberlake, who made an aggressive early move for the lead, finished fourth as the even-money favorite, a half-length behind Mystik Dan. Timberlake was followed, in order, by Informed Patriot, Time for Truth, Imperial Gun, Liberal Arts, Will Take It and Dimatic. Liberal Arts crossed the finish line sixth, but he was disqualified for interference on the first turn and placed eighth following a stewards’ inquiry.

Breaking from post sven, Muth raced just behind Timberlake, who took the field through a :47.46 half-mile and 6 furlongs in 1:12.26, before taking the lead on the outside turning for home. Muth opened a 1 ½-length advantage in midstretch and held Just Steel safe in the run to the wire.

Muth’s winning time over a fast track was 1:49.54. A son of champion Good Magic, Muth raised his lifetime earnings to $1,504,100 following his fourth victory from six starts. The Arkansas Derby was his first start outside California.

Muth was a finalist for an Eclipse Award as the county’s champion 2-year-old male after compiling a 2-2-0 mark from four starts. He won the $300,000 G1-American Pharoah Stakes Oct. 7 at Santa Anita and closed 2023 with a runner-up finish behind Fierceness in the $2 million G1-Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.

Muth hadn’t started since winning the seven-furlong $200,000 G2-San Vicente Stakes Jan. 6 at Santa Anita. He was scheduled to start in the $1.25 million G2-Rebel Stakes 1 1/16 miles Feb. 24 – Oaklawn’s third Kentucky Derby points race – but Baffert scrapped the trip because he wasn’t satisfied with the colt’s Feb. 18 workout at Santa Anita.

Baffert has won the Rebel a record eight times. He also won the Arkansas Derby in 2012 with Bodemeister, in 2015 with future Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and in 2020 with Charlatan and Nadal (the race was run in divisions).

Baffert has also won the Southwest a record six times and the Smarty Jones once. The Arkansas Derby was Oaklawn’s fourth and final Kentucky Derby points race.

Trainer Rodolphe Brisset saddled Muth in the Arkansas Derby because key Baffert assistant Jimmy Barnes was in the United Arab Emirates with Newgate, who ran in Saturday’s $12 G1-million Dubai World Cup (G1). Barnes normally accompanies Baffert’s horses to Oaklawn as the trainer’s traveling assistant.

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Oaklawn is closed Sunday in observance of Easter. Racing resumes Thursday at 12:35 p.m. (Central).

ARKANSAS DERBY QUOTES

JUAN HERNANDEZ (WINNING JOCKEY/MUTH): “I had a really nice trip. My horse broke good. He’s good out of the gate. He’s fast. My plan was to keep him a little wide, keep him by himself, because sometimes when he gets close to other horses, he gets really aggressive. Sometimes, he wants to run too early. I broke good and then I stayed outside. He relaxed really good. I saw a couple of horses inside trying to get the lead. I said: ‘OK, go ahead.’ My horse was really comfortable on the backside. He was traveling really well. Around the three-eighths, I asked him to pick it up and he responded. And then around the quarter pole, I asked him for everything that he had and he showed that he has a lot of talent. He just took off again.”

BOB BAFFERT (WINNING TRAINER/MUTH): “He got away and then he was in a good spot. The track – speed really wasn’t playing well today – but he was in a good spot there. Down the backside, when I saw Timberlake sneak up in there, I thought maybe he was going to control the race from there because I figured he was the horse to beat. But Muth, he’s just … the only hose that beat him was Fierceness and we saw what he did today (winning the Florida Derby). I’m just happy for everybody. It (Arkansas Derby) is very important. It’s a very prestigious race, winning that. You know how we feel about Oaklawn.”

KEITH ASMUSSEN (SECOND-PLACE JOCKEY/JUST STEEL): “The horse handled it beautifully – excellent position. The horse was extremely comfortable in the first turn and down the backside. Loved where he was every step of the race and he really ran home. I think more ground will help him a little bit.”

BRIAN HERNANDEZ JR. (THIRD-PLACE JOCKEY/MYSTIK DAN): “We went around the first turn and got knocked pretty good by (Liberal Arts). It was pretty hard and kind of cost us some position. But our horse, you’ve got to be proud of him. He ran on nicely and picking up third was big.”

FLAVIEN PRAT (FOURTH-PLACE FINISHER/TIMBERLAKE): “We were in a good spot and into the first turn, they were slowing down quite a bit. He got very aggressive with me, so I kind of let him run to get him to settle down, which he did down the backside. Just a little empty at the end.”

D. WAYNE LUKAS (SECOND-PLACE TRAINER/JUST STEEL): “We’re excited but it’s disappointing there won’t be Bob [Baffert]. He’s got great horses. He’s got Derby horses but he’s going through a lot of things right now that shouldn’t be happening. But we can’t change that. I was confident about my horse. I was telling someone else, when there’s a little bit of brilliance in there, when you see it, you can dig in there and get it. If they don’t have that brilliance, then you’re just in la la land bringing these horses over and hoping, but he’s got some in him and now we just have to see if we can get it out of him.”

KENNY McPEEK (THIRD-PLACE TRAINER/MYSTIK DAN): “He got beat up a little bit in the first turn by the 5 horse (Liberal Arts). But look, third is a respectable run. I really expected him to win, but these things aren’t easy.”

Thorpedo Anna; Renee Torbit Photo

FANTASY

Thorpedo Anna stamped herself a major Kentucky Oaks player with a powerful victory in the $750,000 G2-Fantasy

Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.

Making her 2024 debut, delayed because of a minor hip issue, Thorpedo Anna rolled home by four lengths under Brian Hernandez Jr. West Omaha finished second, 3 ¼ lengths ahead of Tapit Jenallie.

Thorpedo Anna ($7.40). collected 100 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points for the victory, her third in four lifetime starts.

Thorpedo Anna won her first two starts last fall in Kentucky, but she was unraced since a runner-up finish in the $400,000 G2-Golden Rod Stakes Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs. The Golden Rod was her two-turn debut.

Although she broke from the extreme outside, post 10, in the Fantasy, Thorpedo Anna was able to secure a forward position and raced just off the lead down the backstretch. The daughter of Fast Anna, in hand, took the lead on the outside on the second turn and was three lengths clear in midstretch.

Racing over a fast track, Thorpedo Anna covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.24.

Tapit Jenallie was followed, in order, by All Things Go, Recharge, Ba Dee Yah, Lemon Muffin, My Mane Squeeze, Candy Aisle and In Just My Heels. My Mane Squeeze, the slight 2-1 favorite over Thorpedo Anna, was never a factor after being unruly in the gate prior to the start. Midshipman’s Dance and Where’s My Ring were scratched.

Thorpedo Anna, co-owned by McPeek’s wife, Sherri, has a 3-1-0 record from four starts and lifetime earnings of $584,363.

FANTASY QUOTES

BRIAN HERNANDEZ JR. (WINNING JOCKEY/THORPEDO ANNA): “When we got into the paddock, (trainer) Kenny (McPeek) told me: You know what you have underneath you. She’s the fastest filly in the race, so just ride her with confidence.’ The biggest thing I was worried about was just being in the (10) hole – her not breaking or breaking out. When she broke cleanly, I was like: ‘OK, now we’re in a good spot.’ She settled right off those horses down the backside and we were locked and loaded the whole way.”

KENNY McPEEK (WINNING TRAINER/THORPEDO ANNA): “She was loaded. She was ready to run. Even at feed time yesterday, she was on her toes. I was worried about her getting nervous. Will definitely have to school her at Churchill. Mystik Dan has had to look her in the eye in their last few breezes. She’s given him everything he could handle. She’s a serious (Kentucky Oaks) contender.”

TYLER GAFFALIONE (SECOND-PLACE TRAINER/WEST OMAHA): “My filly did everything I asked of her. She traveled real well throughout. Coming into the stretch, I saw Brian (jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. on Thorpedo Anna) was sitting pretty good, so I tried to get the jump on him. But when I ranged up to him, his filly took off.”

OAKLAWN MILE

Trainer Mike Maker is now a two-time Oaklawn Mile winner. Frosted Grace is now a millionaire.

Flying P Stable’s Frosted Grace collared front-running Silver Prospector on the outside in the upper stretch en route to a 1 ½-length victory in the $500,000 Grade 3 race for older horses.

The Oaklawn Mile marked the first start for Frosted Grace since owner Jason Provenzano (Flying P Stable) moved the 8-year-old son of Mark Valeski from trainer Robertino Diodoro to Maker, who won the inaugural Oaklawn Mile in 2019 with Exulting. Frosted Grace hadn’t run since a victory over $62,500 claimers Jan. 13 at Oaklawn.

Ridden again by Ramon Vazquez, Frosted Grace ($14.40) stalked Silver Prospector and Last Samurai through a :46.84 half-mile. Frosted Grace stuck a head in front with a sixteenth of a mile remaining and edged clear under steady urging.

Silver Prospector, a millionaire multiple graded stakes winner, finished second, 3 ¾ lengths ahead of Nautical Star. Denington, who finished fourth, was followed, in order, by 8-5 favorite Midnight Rising and Last Samurai, another millionaire multiple graded stakes winner. Logical Myth and Necker Island were scratched.

Carrying 117 pounds –seven less than Silver Prospector – Frosted Grace ran the mile over a fast track in 1:36.61.

Frosted Grace has an 11-14-7 record from 46 lifetime starts and earnings of $1,113,562. It was the second career graded stakes victory for Frosted Grace, who captured the $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile (G3) last May at Lone Star Park.

OAKLAWN MILE QUOTES

RAMON VAZQUEZ (WINNING JOCKEY/FROSTED GRACE): “I had a lot of confidence. The horse was doing incredible. That horse was working so good in the morning. I got a good trip. The horse broke sharp from the gate. It was my job to put the horse in good position. I asked him the last quarter and he responded well.”

KEITH ASMUSSEN (SECOND-PLACE JOCKEY/SILVER PROSPECTOR): “The horse broke ultra-sharp. Going under the wire the first time, look over and it seemed to be five-path, with no pace, or you’re two-path, maybe a little faster than you would like to. But the horse, he’s on intentional. I absolutely loved where I was. Ultra-confident. I cut the corner and he really ran home. I was surprised I got passed.”

MATRON

American Band, who ran for a $12,500 claiming tag last year at Oaklawn, caught Grade 1 winner Daddysruby on the outside near the wire for an upset victory in the $250,000 Matron Stakes for older female sprinters.

American Band (27-1) was the longest-priced horse in the field, reduced to eight following the scratches of Backyard Money and Chandana.

American Band ($57) tracked dueling front-runners Mucho Macho Girl and Daddysruby through quick splits of :21.49 and :45.06 for a half-mile. American Band, who was ridden by Walter De La Cruz, wore down Daddysruby in the final sixteenth of a mile.

Daddysruby held second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Royal Spa, who was followed, in order, by Leeloo, Hoosier Philly, 6-5 favorite Zeitlos, Traverse and a leg-weary Mucho Macho Girl.

American Band’s winning time for six furlongs over a fast track was 1:10.57. American Band races for owner/trainer John Haran, who claimed the 5-year-old daughter of Flatter for $12,500 last May at Oaklawn. American Band is 3 for 3 at the meeting. She was making her stakes debut after a first-level allowance score March 9.

American Band is 6 of 9 overall, with earnings of $332,205.

MATRON QUOTES

WALTER DE LA CRUZ (WINNING JOCKEY/AMERICAN BAND): “Perfect trip, like we planned with the trainer. I just let her go behind the two horses with speed. Just sat there waiting for the stretch. She gave me everything. She kicked nice. I’m so happy now.”

JOHN HARAN (WINNING OWNER/TRAINER/AMERICAN BAND): “I was pretty nervous, to be honest with you. This is her first time off Lasix. You never know what’s going to happen because anything can happen when you’re off Lasix the first time. Looks like she responded really well being off it. I have no fear anymore, I guess, looking toward bigger and better things and we’ll go from there. We’ll see what comes about, but I’m sure we’ll find something here before the end of the meet. She’s 3 for 3 here right now.”