Oaklawn Barn Notes: She’s Lookin Lucky Could Be Shirer’s First Graded Stakes Winner

by Robert Yates —-

She’s Lookin Lucky Could Be Shirer’s First Graded Stakes Winner

The rapidly improving She’s Lookin Lucky will try to give trainer Matt Shirer his first career graded stakes victory in the $600,000 Fantasy (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Oaklawn.

The Fantasy will offer 200 points to the top five finishers (100-40-30-20-10, respectively) toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Oaks, the country’s biggest race for 3-year-old fillies.

Shirer, 37, has three career starts in graded stakes races, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization, with his best finish being a second with Kneedeepinsnow in the $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) last July at Saratoga.

She’s Lookin Lucky, based on her last two starts, is the 5-2 second choice in the program for the Fantasy. She broke her maiden by 13 ¼ lengths in a 1 mile and 70-yard off-the-turf event Feb. 9 at Fair Grounds and finished second, beaten 4 ¼ lengths by Punchbowl, in an entry-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles March 5 at Oaklawn. Punchbowl (2 for 2) is a prized 3-year-old filly for trainer Brad Cox, who also conditions Wet Paint, the 8-5 program favorite for the Fantasy.

“I figured that’s probably what was going on with that,” Shirer said Tuesday morning. “Her numbers are good. Beyer-wise, she ran an 87 when she broke her maiden and then backed it up with an 82. She kind of bounced a little bit off the big effort, so I think if she runs back to a similar number she did breaking her maiden, she’s going to be right there.”

A daughter of champion and Oaklawn Rebel winner Lookin At Lucky, She’s Lookin Lucky has made her last two starts with Shirer after beginning her racing career with trainer Al Stall and breeder/owner Richard Dunn.

“Richard called and said he was going to make a move and sent her over to me,” Shirer said. “We worked her a couple of times at Fair Grounds. She worked good and got her into a maiden special and she ran great. She hadn’t run too good in her previous start, so I wasn’t sure what had gone on there. She’s always been straight forward since I got her.”

She’s Lookin Lucky is now campaigned by Dunn, Ten Strike Racing (founding partners Marshall Gramm and Arkansas native Clay Sanders), Gary Barber, Jeremy Sussman and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Monken won NCAA national championships the past two seasons as offensive coordinator at the University of Georgia.

Shirer already trained for Ten Strike, Sussman and Monken and put Gramm in touch with Dunn following the filly’s blowout maiden victory. Shirer noted that Gramm is a big fan of Lookin At Lucky offspring, which helped facilitate the deal to buy into the filly.

“Jeremy Sussman and Todd Monken are partners with Marshall on other horses,” Shirer said. “I started training for him (Monken) – it’s been three years. He’s got pieces of a couple of other horses we claimed. Laid-back guy. Just loves watching.”

Shirer, who is wintering at Oaklawn for the first time in 2022-2023, has a 5-5-5 record from 21 starts at the meeting and purse earnings of $318,667. He saddled his first career winner in 2015.

In addition to the Vanderbilt, Kneedeepinsnow, an $80,000 claim last April at Keeneland by Ten Strike and Sussman, finished seventh in the $600,000 Forego Stakes (G1) last August at Saratoga. Bernabreezy, Shirer’s first career graded stakes starter, finished sixth in the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) last March at Fair Grounds.

He’s Back

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has dominated Oaklawn’s four-race Kentucky Derby prep series for more than a decade, has two horses entered on Saturday’s Arkansas Derby undercard.

Baffert is scheduled to start Hopper in the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile (G3) for older horses and Carmel Road in the inaugural $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 mile.

The Southern California-based Baffert improved his gaudy Oaklawn career record to 37 of 87 with unbeaten Arabian Knight’s victory in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 28. The Southwest, Baffert’s record-extending 19th victory in Oaklawn’s Kentucky Derby prep series, marked the trainer’s first appearance in Hot Springs for a race since the 2011 Arkansas Derby.

“Oaklawn’s gotten really tough,” Baffert said Tuesday afternoon. “I mean, all the good horses are there. You better come with your ‘A’ team. You’ve got to come in there with a horse that’s doing really well. It was fun being there. Nothing like seeing a packed racetrack. It gives you a good feeling. It makes you feel like the game is still thriving.”

Owing to a suspension from Churchill Downs, Baffert won’t be represented in the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1), a race he’s won four times, including in 2015 with future Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year American Pharoah. The suspension stems from Baffert’s Medina Spirit being disqualified from his 2021 Kentucky Derby victory (medication violation).

Baffert is bidding for his first Oaklawn Mile victory after finishing second in 2020 with future Eclipse Award winner Improbable and again last year with Grade 2 winner Cezanne.

Hopper, who removes blinkers, will be cutting back to a mile after finishing fourth in the $500,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) for older horses at 1 ¼ miles March 4 at Santa Anita.

“This horse has trained really well since his last race,” Baffert said. “There’s nothing here. They’ve got the (Hollywood) Gold Cup, but it’s not for a while.”

Hopper recorded his biggest career victory to date in the $100,000 Affirmed Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles last June at Santa Anita. He also finished second, beaten a length by Baffert’s 2022 Southwest winner Newgrange, in the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes (G2) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles Jan. 28 at Santa Anita. The San Pasqual marked Hopper’s first start since the Affirmed.

“He’s got a lot of speed,” Baffert said. “I took the blinkers off for his comeback. Last time, he was a little aggressive on the pace and I think he never really settled. Just got a little tired at the end.”

Carmel Road returns to Baffert after finishing eighth in the $300,000 Gotham Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 mile March 4 at Aqueduct. Carmel Road broke his maiden at 1 mile last August at Del Mar before testing some of the country’s top 2-year-olds, including future Eclipse Award winner Forte and Practical Move, in graded stakes company.

“Nice little spot for him,” Baffert said, referring to the Hot Springs. “I think he’s a miler.”

Baffert has amassed $10,455,293 in purse earnings in his Oaklawn career. His 37 victories include 23 graded stakes.

In addition to the Arkansas Derby, Baffert has won the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds a record eight times and the Southwest a record six times.

Tyler’s Tribe Returns Thursday

Iowa-bred sensation Tyler’s Tribe is scheduled to make his 3-year-old and two-turn debut in Thursday’s seventh race, a $103,000 entry-level allowance at 1 mile.

Tyler’s Tribe, co-owned and trained by Tim Martin of Hot Springs, hasn’t started since finishing third in the $150,000 Advent Stakes for 2-year-olds at 5 ½ furlongs Dec. 9 at Oaklawn.

Martin said Tyler’s Tribe bled through the anti-bleeder medication Lasix during the race, which led to a break of approximately one month at the trainer’s nearby farm in Royal. The gelding returned to Oaklawn in early February and has four published workouts in advance of his comeback, the last a 5-furlong bullet (:59.40) March 23 under regular rider Kylee Jordan. Martin said Tyler’s Tribe scoped clean following each work and believes a two-turn race won’t be as physically taxing on the gelding, thus lessening the chances of bleeding again.

“My gallop boy, Kylee, they think he’ll go long and I think it’s easier on the horse,” Martin said. “I may be wrong, but I believe it. This will be four months in between races. I gave him like 70 days before I ever started back breezing him.”

Tyler’s Tribe had been under consideration for Saturday’s inaugural $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 mile before Martin opted for the allowance spot, an extra written by Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope. The move allows Tyler’s Tribe to run on Lasix. Martin said he regularly breezes with the medication.

“I think the distance is going to better for the bleeding,” said Martin, who has 149 career Oaklawn victories. “If there’s speed in there, I think he’ll rate. Kylee said he’ll rate. She’s always said that. He’s good. He’s come back good. I’ve scoped him after every work. Clean as a whistle.”

Tyler’s Tribe, the 8-5 program favorite, is scheduled to break from post 6 under Jordan. The early 9-5 second choice is Echo Again, a hot 2-year-old prospect last summer for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Tyler’s Tribe won his first five career starts, all dirt sprints at Prairie Meadows in Iowa, by a combined 59 ¾ front-running lengths before being eased after bleeding in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) Nov. 4 at Keeneland. The use of race-day Lasix is prohibited in the Breeders’ Cup.

From the first crop of millionaire Grade 1 winner Sharp Azteca, Tyler’s Tribe has a 5-0-1 record from seven lifetime starts and earnings of $320,169. A $34,000 yearling purchase, Tyler’s Tribe is a four-time stakes winner for Martin and co-owner Thomas D. Lepic.

Probable post time for Thursday’s seventh race is 3:50 p.m. (Central). The race is strictly for 3-year-olds.

Finish Lines

In conjunction with moving to four-day race weeks (Thursday-Sunday) in March, Oaklawn will offer free parking, excluding valet, free programs and $1 hot dogs each Thursday throughout the month. … Grade 3 winner Rocket Can arrived Tuesday morning to run in Saturday’s $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1) for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and owner Frank Fletcher of North Little Rock, Ark. The Into Mischief colt had previously been based in Florida. … Key of Life ($7) represented the 33rd career Oaklawn stakes winner for trainer Brad Cox in last Saturday’s $150,000 Purple Martin for 3-year-old filly sprinters. Cox, a two-time Eclipse Award winner as the country’s outstanding trainer, recorded his 282d career victory in Sunday’s third race with Opening Night ($6.20). … Opening Night was the 717th career Oaklawn winner for jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. Santana is the seventh-winning jockey in Oaklawn history. … Jockey Francisco Arrieta rode two winners Sunday to push his 2022-2023 Oaklawn total to 62 and equal his single-season career high in Hot Springs. Arrieta won the first race aboard favored West Side Girl ($3.60) and the fifth race aboard favored Polterer ($7.40). Arrieta rode 50 winners in his Oaklawn debut in 2021 and shared the 2021-2022 title with 62 victories. … West Side Girl and Polterer gave trainer Greg Compton his first career Oaklawn double. Compton, a North Little Rock, Ark., native, recorded his first of 47 career Oaklawn victories to date in 2009.