A huge day at Oaklawn Park looms on Saturday the 16thwith four major stakes races and four maiden special weight races filled with well bred runners.
The day is topped by two divisions of the Rebel Stakes (G2), originally slated to be $1 million but now $750,000 each. Trainers with dual entries were split into separate divisions, meaning 2018 Eclipse Champion Two Year Old Male and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Game Winner will not face unbeaten grade 1 winner Improbable from the Bob Baffert barn.
Race 8, the first division, features a field of nine. Mike Smith will be on #1 Extra Hope, who is making his eighth career start after a slow beginning last year. Extra Hope, by Shanghai Bobby, is trained by Richard Mandella, who got him to break his maiden by 8 ¾ lengths in October before finishing third in the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity (G1) and then winning a Santa Anita allowance in January.
#8 Galilean will have questions to answer for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Three for four lifetime, the sun of Uncle Mo seeks Derby points after a 4 ½ length win in the California Cup Derby on February 18. He is considered immensely talented and quick.
#9 Improbable is the one to beware of after winning both the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs and the Los Alamitos Futurity. He has not run since December 8, but the $200,000 son of City Zip has worked two bullets in the last six weeks, including a zippy six furlongs on February 25.
Stablemate #5 Game Winner tops the second division of the Rebel (race 10). Also unbeaten in four starts, the son of Candy Ride (Arg) hasn’t raced since his Breeders’ Cup win. He is a three-time grade 1 winner, trainer Baffert has won this race six times since 2010.
Game Winner will face fellow California shippers #6 Omaha Beach for Mandella and #8 Gunmetal Gray for Hollendorfer. The latter won the Sham Stakes (G3) in January and was second in the Robert B. Lewis (G3) on February 2. Steve Asmussen sends out local hope #10 Captain Von Trapp, who defeated highly regarded Cowboy Diplomacy two back when breaking his maiden. He has since added a local allowance win, while Cowboy Diplomacy is back in action in the third race on the card.
Race 7 is the Azeri Stakes (G2) for older fillies and mares. The incredible race features four grade 1 winners: #2 Midnight Bisou, #4 Eskimo Kisses, #5 Elate, and #6 Shamrock Rose. Elate has not won since finishing second in a grade 1 at Saratoga last summer. Midnight Bisou is coming off a win in the Houston Ladies Classic (G3) on January 27. Shamrock Rose won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) last November; she was since fourth in the Fasig-Tipton Hurricane Bertie (G3) on January 26.
Rounding out the stakes action is the $350,000 Essex Handicap, the local prep for the Oaklawn Park Handicap on April 13. California shippers include #1 Dalmore, #3 Sonneteer, who is a stakes winner over the course, and #8 Giant Expectations. Among the more local hopes are #7 Snapper Sinclair, a popular runner who won a one-mile allowance here February 17.
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