Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Oaklawn May Feature Treat

January 15, 2010

The fifth season, as folks in Hot Springs, Ark., like to call it, begins today. And it just might transcend winter, spring, summer and fall, as well as Oaklawn Park’s 105 previous seasons, especially if this becomes the occasion for the meeting of Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra.

Now, there’s something devoutly to be wished, as the poet said, and it’s not entirely impossible. Since winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which became her 14th victory in as many outings, the Amazonian mare has had three workouts. Now, the Classic was said to be Zenyatta’s final race, and so why the workouts? She worked a half-mile in 50.40 seconds on Dec. 7, another half-mile in 49.40 two weeks later and yet another half-mile just nine days ago in 48 flat, all in California.

Rather than easing down to prepare for her future as a broodmare, she would appear to be cranking up for — well, for what exactly? Some have speculated — wisely, I think —that if Zenyatta isn’t named Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards banquet on Monday night, she might not be retired. After all, that would toss the old nothing-left-to-prove argument into the Pacific Ocean. If Zenyatta’s not Horse of the Year, she indeed will still have something to prove, specifically that she can beat the Horse of the Year, who, in such a scenario, would be Rachel Alexandra.

And Oaklawn Park’s $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap on April 3 would be the perfect place for their meeting. Both horses have won there and demonstrated a fondness for the surface: Zenyatta took the 2008 Apple Blossom by 4 1/2 lengths in what remains one of the best performances of her career. Rachel Alexandra cruised through two Oaklawn stakes last year, the Martha Washington and Fantasy, by a total of nearly 17 lengths. Having resumed training in New Orleans, Rachel Alexandra could be ready to race in March. Fair Grounds has created a stakes race in anticipation of just such a possibility.

And Zenyatta could use the Santa Maria on Feb. 13 at Santa Anita to prepare for the showdown. The timing of the Apple Blossom could be perfect for both horses, and theirs would be the most anticipated matchup since Ali and Frazier or Seabiscuit and War Admiral. Such a race would, of course, be a boon to the sport. Oaklawn would fill with a record crowd, on television monitors from California to New York to London, millions and millions of eyes would follow the drama, and the race would become the omphalos of the sporting world.

At the risk of anticlimax, the Oaklawn Park season should be outstanding even if the two most celebrated horses in the country don’t meet there this year. With about $30 million in improvements, which include a new casino, Oaklawn has transformed itself into an entertainment center, but with horse racing still the centerpiece. That’s what always has separated Oaklawn from most other racetracks with gaming.

At Oaklawn, the emphasis has remained on the racing. Last year, not only Rachel Alexandra but Summer Bird, who went on to win the Belmont Stakes and who certainly will be named the champion 3-year-old for 2009, raced there, as did such as standouts as Papa Clem, Old Fashioned and Seventh Street. In recent years, Curlin, Afleet Alex, Lawyer Ron and Smarty Jones, all champions, won the Arkansas Derby. With its $1 million purse, this year’s Grade I Arkansas Derby, broadcast April 10 on ABC, will be the richest and possibly the most significant Triple Crown prelude in America. It will be anticipated by Monday’s $100,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, the $250,000 Southwest Stakes on Feb. 15, and the $300,000 Rebel on March 13, all for 3-year-olds.

That’s why, in part, such jockeys as Corey Nakatani and Jon Court are at Oaklawn; they’re looking for Derby mounts. The strong colony of jockeys also includes Cliff Berry, Quincy Hamilton, Luis Quinonez and Terry Thompson. Daily purses will average $315,000-$320,000 a day, said racing secretary Pat Pope. And that’s why some of the most powerful stables in not only the region but the country will race at Oaklawn, including the stables of trainers Steve Asmussen, D. Wayne Lukas, Donnie Von Hemel, Bret Calhoun, Tim Ice, Tim Ritchey and Lynn Whiting. Yes, this fifth season should be special. And it could be, just maybe, eternally memorable.