2025.05.29 Oaklawn Racing Update

Racing Press Release
Compiled by Robert Yates

SKELLY – The Lake Hamilton Stakes – 3rd Running

Oaklawn Park Hot Springs, AR – May 2, 2025

Please Give Photo Credit To: Coady Media

SKELLY – The Lake Hamilton Stakes – 3rd Running

Oaklawn Park Hot Springs, AR – May 2, 2025

Thursday, May 29, 2025

After two scintillating performances this spring at Oaklawn, millionaire Skelly returns to graded stakes company in the six-furlong $275,000 Aristides (G3) Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Probable post time for the Aristides, the sixth race, is 2:18 p.m. (Central). Skelly is one of eight Oaklawn stakes winners entered on “Stephen Foster Preview Day,” which features six black-type races.

Other Oaklawn stakes winners entered Saturday in black-type events at Churchill Downs are Alexander Helios, Mystik Dan and Banishing in the $275,000 Blame (G3) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles; and Corningstone, Hoosier Philly and Wild Bout Hilary in the $275,000 Shawnee (G3) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles.

Skelly has breezed in both starts this year to stretch his Oaklawn winning streak to 10 – all in six-furlong races – for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, owner Chris Hicks (Red Lane Thoroughbreds) and regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr.

In his 6-year-old debut, Skelly won an April 11 allowance race by 5 ¼ lengths, then captured the $200,000 Lake Hamilton Stakes May 2 by 10 ½ lengths. Much sharper leaving the gate than in past races, Skelly quickly opened large early leads and coasted to the finish line in both starts. The Practical Joke gelding still sizzled, winning his comeback in 1:09.27 and the Lake Hamilton in 1:08.15, just off the track record (1:07.80). Those final times generated gaudy Beyer Speed Figures of 107 and a career-high 110, respectively.

Skelly is the 7-5 program favorite for the Aristides, which drew a field of seven. Skelly is scheduled to break from post 6 under Santana and carry top weight of 120 pounds. The speedy Grade 2 winner World Record (3-1) drew post 7. Three other Oaklawn-raced horses are entered in the Aristides – Giant Mischief (4-1) for trainer Brad Cox, Happy Is a Choice (6-1) for trainer John Ortiz and Durante (15-1) for trainer David Jacobson.

Happy Is a Choice started three times this season at Oaklawn, winning the $150,000 Ring the Bell Stakes Dec. 7. Happy Is a Choice edged Skelly by a neck to win the $300,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes last fall at Churchill Downs. Giant Mischief finished second in Oaklawn’s $250,000 Whitmore Stakes (G3) in March. Durante was a distant third in the Lake Hamilton, which was Skelly’s third consecutive victory in the race and sixth career Oaklawn stakes victory.

Alexander Heilos (6-1) won the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) Feb. 23 in the fastest 1 1/16 miles (1:41.88) of the 2024-2025 Oaklawn meeting. Mystik Dan (4-1) exits a runner-up finish, beaten a nose by Saudi Crown, in Oaklawn’s $200,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes May 3. Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby (G1)and Oaklawn’s $800,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) as a 3-year-old. Banishing (9-2) was a two-time stakes winner this season at Oaklawn, including the $500,000 Oaklawn Mile (G3) March 29, and was beaten a head in the Razorback.

Corningstone (10-1) was also a two-time stakes winner this season at Oaklawn, taking the one-mile $150,000 Mistletoe Dec. 14 and the $150,000 Pippin in January. She hasn’t started since a troubled fifth-place finish in the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) Feb. 8 at Oaklawn. Wild Bout Hilary (12-1) was an upset winner of the Bayakoa. Hoosier Philly (5-1) won the one-mile $200,000 Dig A Diamond Stakes at Oaklawn in April.

The 5-2 program favorite for the Shawnee is Where’s My Ring, who was a 12 ¼-length Oaklawn allowance winner in March before finishing third behind 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna in the $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) in April.

Another Shawnee entrant, Free Like a Girl, will be making her 15th attempt to win a graded stakes race. The all-time accredited Louisiana-bred career money winner ($2,523,648), Free Like a Girl finished second in this year’s Bayakoa, second behind Thorpedo Anna in the $400,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) March 8 at Oaklawn and second in last month’s Apple Blossom. Free Like a Girl (4-1) was a 2024 allowance winner at Oaklawn. She is a 19-time stakes winner.