Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is well on his way to his record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby (G1) after both heavily favored Charlatan and Nadal remained undefeated in their respective Arkansas Derby (G1) victories Saturday. Oaklawn split the race for just the second time in its 84-year history when 22 horses entered the race last Sunday. After two scratches in each division, nine horses started in each race.
Charlatan, who races for SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables, Fredrick Hertrich III, John Fielding and Golconda Stables, earned 100 points toward Kentucky Derby eligibility with his front-running winning stakes debut in the first division and is now ranked fourth on the leaderboard. George Bolton, Arthur Hoyeau, Barry Lipman and Mark Mathiesen’s Nadal, who won the Rebel Stakes March 14, is now the leader on the Kentucky Derby leader board with 150 points after taking the second division by three lengths over King Guillermo.
King Guillermo, the Tampa Bay Derby winner, moved into fifth on the leaderboard by finishing second to Nadal. Basin, the runner up to Charlatan, is now ranked 10th with 50 total points. Governeur Morris, third in the first division is now ranked 14th with 34 total points. Fennick the Fierce, who ran third in the second division at odds of 62-1 is now 20th on the list with 25 points.
In between the two Arkansas Derbys, Allied Racing Stable LLC’s By My Standards pulled the mild upset when he won the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) by 1 ¾ lengths over pacesetting Razorback Handicap winner Warrior’s Charge. 3-1 favorite Mr Freeze was third.
Saturday was the final day of the 2020 Oaklawn season. Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. finished as leading rider for the seventh year with 60 wins, Robertino Diodoro secured his first leading trainer’s title with 52 wins and M & M Racing was leading owner for the third straight year with 27 wins.
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Arkansas Derby Quotes Division 1
Winning trainer Bob Baffert, Charlatan and Nadal – “Very exciting day, to say the least. I thought both horses were going to run really well. Charlatan, what a talent he is and how fast he is. I just loved the way, third out, to ship and to do that, what he did today - only the really good ones can do that. And Nadal, he came out of that race (Rebel) … he's a tough horse. There's a lot to him and he's a cool customer and I could see he's getting better and better. I just told (Joel) Rosario to just get him running away from there and if somebody just gets ridiculous, like I thought maybe Florent (Geroux), he would probably try to get the lead, but don't be worried about this horse sitting off a horse and he handled it well. Down the backside, I just loved the way he was. I figured if he was good enough, he can win from there. We just didn't want to go :22 and empty out. It worked out perfectly. I just want to thank the Cella family and Oaklawn Park for the fantastic job. Just fortunate and happy that they were able to split it and give everybody a chance to get some Derby points."
Winning Jockey Martin Garcia, Charlatan – “I can say I am really lucky to ride him. Mr. Baffert and the owners had a lot of choices. They pick me. I just did my job. He just took me to the winner’s circle. They told me we were smoking. I went in 1:09 and he was just galloping. He did in all within himself. I felt someone coming at the 3/8ths and I let him go. He just took off. That’s a sign of a really good horse.”
“I was the #1 and sometimes being #1, it takes a while for the others to load. He was very professional in the gate. He broke good and then he just took me to the lead by himself. It felt like he was galloping and I thought I was going slower than I was. At the 3/8th, he just took off. At the top of the stretch, I asked him to go and he found another gear. It is just amazing when you are on a horse like that.”
Trainer Steve Asmussen, Basin, second – “He was in hot pursuit the whole way. He hung in there really well. Solid fractions. I thought Ricardo (Santana Jr.) gave him every shot. He just finished second best.”
Jockey Julien Leparoux, fourth on Winning Impresssion – “Good race. I had a good race. He was sitting fifth or six and then made his run.”
Trainer Blaine Wright, Anneau d’Or, fifth – “He broke a little flat footed. Then he had to use him a little to get some pisiotn. We didn’t want to be too far back. We knew that horse had lone speed. Man, what a horse he turned out to be. He’s in a different league. It would have been nice to hold on to fourth place money, but all and all not a disgrace for us.”
Trainer Ken McPeek, Crypto Cash, sixth – “He's a useful kind of horse and he's out of his allowance conditions. They're not going to write that. He was just doing well and we figured we'd take a shot and see how he could run. Corey (Lanerie) had some trouble with him, with his mouth a little bit in the race, and he said he was leaning. It's been a little issue we've had with the colt, anyway. He’ll be OK. We'll find something a lot simpler coming out of this.”
Trainer Jeremiah O’Dwyer, My Friends Beer, ninth - “The winner (Charlatan) looked exceptional - just to go out there and go those fractions he did on the front end and keep going every step of the way and just draw off. There will be a lot of people, I guess, saying he got an uncontested lead. Who wants to take on a horse going :22 and :46 going a mile and an eighth? My Friends Beer is probably not a Grade 1 horse, but we took a shot. He was probably a little bit flat from his last run. He put in a big effort and finished a good, strong third in that allowance race. He was running three weeks ago and he only shipped down three days before that. It probably caught up with him a little bit. But the owners had fun, we all had fun. It was my first runner in a Grade 1. Finished last, so I think the only way is up for me.”
Oaklawn Handicap
Winning trainer Bret Calhoun, By My Standards – "He stepped up against a great field of horses. Lot of depth in it. He just kind of confirmed what we've been thinking of him. It's nice for him to prove it on the racetrack. The 12 hole might not have been ideal, but he overcame it. Gabe (Saez) did a great job of getting position in the first turn. You didn't want to be overconfident at that point and time, but I found myself feeling pretty comfortable early in the race, once he got that position away from the gate. I didn't really think it would be a problem (winning outside Louisiana), but until you do it, you don't know. He'd never run on that track, he'd never shipped and run. I understand what the public might be have been thinking, but they don't have the opportunity to know exactly what we know."
Winning jockey Gabriel Saez, By My Standards – “I talked to Bret this morning and he didn’t give me much instructions. Told me to just get the job done. It was a tremendous performance by him. He broke sharp and put me right in the race where I wanted to be. I wanted to stalked the leaders. Around the backstretch I was kind of cruising behind the ones in front of me and just waited for the right moment to make my move. When I asked him, he really responded. He got the job done.”
Jockey Florent Geroux, second with Warrior’ Charge – “He ran good. It wasn’t like we were the only speed. They were fair fractions. Not suicidal by any means. My horse had a long time between races and I think he got a little tired. He was also stretching out to 1 1/8, which is a question for him. It was a great race. Tough field and he showed up.”
Assistant Trainer Riley Mott, Tacitus, fourth – “Didn't have much excuse. He got a good position down the backside. Got into a comfort zone. Just couldn't make up any ground on the leaders. He put in an eighth of a mile run, just pretty steady. He's always been kind of been a steady type of one-run horse. Turns might have been a little tight for him, but still no excuse. Just wasn't good enough. Good horses in front of him.”
Arkansas Derby Division 2
Winning Jockey Joel Rosario, Nadal – “He looked good. Very good race. He sat off that horse and then took care of the rest. He’s a champ.
“It was the perfect trip. He broke well and took a little bit of time to get him going and he was fine, no problem. The horse on my outside (Wells Bayou) broke right away like he wanted the lead. My horse just sat off the pace perfectly. He looked happy with that position.
“I’m so blessed to be here especially with what’s going on right now. I appreciate the opportunity all the people here at Oaklawn. Every time they welcome me and I can’t be anymore happy about it. Thanks to them for everything.
Winning owner George Bolton, Nadal – “I just have to thank the timing. He had six weeks between starts. He went back to California and Bob (Baffert) worked him behind horses three times. I thought if there was speed today, he could sit off it. He had a much more comfortable trip than in the Rebel when he was attacked by three different challengers. I was very proud. He finished well. I have a secret. Bob called me two days ago and said he wanted me to come. He said he thought he’d run big and wanted me there.”
Trainer Juan Carlos Avila, second with King Guillermo – “I was nervous. I am so happy. I think we will run better in Kentucky. No travel.”
Trainer Brad Cox, Wells Bayou, fifth – "No excuse. I think that we found out right now, he's a Derby horse. He's got enough points. We're going to have to show a little bit more between now and September to feel confident, have confidence in the Derby. But, we'll regroup."
