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Far Right will train up to Arkansas Derby; Mr. Z headed to Louisiana Derby

Far Right (far right) got the best of The Truth or Else (far left) and Mr. Z (white blinkers) in a muddy edition of the Southwest (Oaklawn Park/Coady Photography) The top three finishers in from last Sunday's Southwest S. (G3) at Oaklawn Park are headed in different directions. Far Right (Notional), a three-quarter length winner over The Truth Or Else (Yes It's True) in the 1 1/16-mile race, will make his next start in the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) on April 11, trainer Ron Moquett said Wednesday morning. By training up to the Arkansas Derby, Far Right will skip the $750,000 Rebel S. (G2) on March 14, which is the next scheduled start for the Truth Or Else, trainer Kenny McPeek said. Mr. Z (Malibu Moon), beaten a nose for second in the Southwest, will make his next start in the $750,000 Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds on March 28, owner Ahmed Zayat said Tuesday. Far Right became the first horse to win both the Southwest and January 19 Smarty Jones S. since that latter one-mile race was added in 2008 to kick off Oaklawn's series of Kentucky Derby (G1) prep races. Moquett said the plan entering 2015 was to run Far Right three times at Oaklawn in hopes of having a fresh horse for the Kentucky Derby, adding the Southwest being delayed six days because of winter weather wasn't a major factor in bypassing the Rebel.

"We decided to try to not just get there (to the Kentucky Derby), but get there with enough healthy horse to do some damage," Moquett said. "We're trying to get there with the most horse."

Moquett said Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who rode Far Right in the Smarty Jones and Southwest, has committed to ride the chestnut colt in the Arkansas Derby. The trainer said Far Right went back to the track for the first time since the Southwest on a snowy Wednesday morning.

"We jogged him just to stretch his legs," the horseman remarked. "It was actually a day early. It was good."

Grade 1-placed The Truth Or Else closed from far back -- last by 14 1/4 lengths after a quarter-mile -- to just miss after taking a narrow lead in deep stretch.

"He ran a good race," McPeek stated Wednesday morning.

Mr. Z, the 2-1 favorite, sprinted to a clear early lead, but couldn't hold off The Truth Or Else on the outside or Far Right, who came up the rail, in the final furlong. The colt broke from the extreme outside post 11, a spot zero for 20 in route races at the meeting.

"I thought he ran a hell of a race," Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said moments after the Southwest.

Zayat's son, Justin, racing and stallion manager for Zayat Stables, said Mr. Z will race without blinkers in the Louisiana Derby.

Zayat Stables is scheduled to be represented by American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) in the 1 1/16-mile Rebel, which would mark the 2015 debut of the Eclipse Award-winning two-year-old male.

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