Champs opening season at Oaklawn Park
If you like champions, then you’ll be seeing some at Oaklawn Park on Saturday. Eclipse Award winners American Pharoah and Untapable will headline a card that was supposed to have a third one in Take Charge Brandi. The 2-year-old champion filly suffered a bone chip in a knee and will be out at least 60 days.
The weather this week in Hot Springs, Ark., is predicted to be rainy. Hopefully, none of these stars will scratch.
American Pharoah will be a short-priced chalk in the Rebel. This is his season debut, but he has been training lights out for trainer Bob Baffert.
Baffert took the Arkansas route to the Kentucky Derby with Bodemeister in 2012. That colt won the Arkansas Derby and was favored in the Kentucky Derby, in which he ran second to I’ll Have Another.
American Pharoah was the champion 2-year-old male last year despite missing the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile due to injury. His status was secured that day when Texas Red, a colt he easily beat in the Frontrunner, was a facile winner of the Juvenile.
Untapable is facing a soft field in the Azeri. She drew a good rail post. This is her season debut, but she should be able to win even if not wound tight by trainer Steve Asmussen.
Untapable was the champion 3-year-old filly last year. She capped her season with a sharp win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita.
Also on the Rebel undercard is the return of Tapiture in the Razorback. I predict he will be among the best older horses in the county by year’s end.
Tapiture was last seen when second to Goldencents in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. In fact, Tapiture placed behind some of the top horses in the country last year in Goldencents, Bayern and Hoppertunity.
If all goes according to Hoyle, these stars would return for the Racing Festival of the South at Oaklawn on April 10 and 11.
American Pharoah would run back in the Arkansas Derby. That would make sense as Baffert will keep him separated from stablemate Dortmund, who is penciled in for the Santa Anita Derby.
Untapable would run next in the Apple Blossom as Asmussen plots her course towards another championship.
Finally, Tapiture would go on to the Oaklawn Handicap. There is a slight chance he could meet Shared Belief, who for sure is being pointed for the Met Mile at Belmont Park on June 6.
■ HORSEPLAYER WORLD SERIES QUALIFIER — The Orleans on Sunday will host a qualifier for the Horseplayer World Series. The qualifier has a $300 buy-in. The top five finishers will earn a free berth into the HWS, worth $1,000, which is March 26 through 28.
■ SANTA ANITA HANDICAPPING CONTEST — Santa Anita will host a two-day tournament Saturday and Sunday. It’s live money, a format I believe will grow more and more in popularity. It costs $3,500 to play, split between a $1,000 entry fee and $2,500 of a live-money bankroll.
The top seven finishers will earn an entry into the 2016 DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at Treasure Island. Other prizes include full or partial entries into the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge to be held at Keeneland on Oct. 30 and 31.
Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick.