Sway Away works for Arkansas Derby; Arienza expected in
Fantasy
Back in March, two horses shipped to Oaklawn Park from California for the
Grade 2 Rebel March 19 and were sent off as the 7-5 favorite and 9-5 second
choice in the 1 1/16-mile race. The favorite, The Factor, easily won the race
and went back to California to prepare for his return in the Grade 1, $1 million
Arkansas Derby April 16, while the second choice, Sway Away, remained in Hot
Springs to lick his wounds after finishing sixth.
Thursday, Sway Away, trained by Jeff Bonde, showed that he has benefited from
his stay at Oaklawn by posting a good looking six-furlong workout in 1:12 3/5 as
he prepares for the rematch with The Factor and several other horses from the
Rebel in the Arkansas Derby.
With Luis Quinonez aboard, the Afleet Alex colt moved steadily through
fractions of :12 4/5, :24 3/5, :36 4/5, :49 2/5 and 1:01 before galloping out
seven furlongs in 1:25.
“It was a very nice work,” said Quinonez, who used to ride for Bonde when
based in California. “He started off a little show like we wanted and picked it
up nicely. He finished good and galloped out really good. I worked him last time
also and he went in :59 (3/5 on March 31), so he’s a nice horse.”
Sway Away will be ridden in the Arkansas Derby by Pat Valenzuela. Quinonez
teams with the highly-regarded Alternation, who is possible for the Arkansas
Derby after flipping in the starting gate of the Rebel and being scratched.
It has been an exciting winter for Quinonez, perennially one of Oaklawn’s
leading riders, and his younger brother Alonso, who is a jockey in Southern
California. Alonso is the regular rider of Premier Pegasus, the morning-line
favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.
When asked what it would be like if both he and his brother made it to the
Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, Quinonez replied, “Oh my god, that would be exciting.”
Meanwhile, turning to Oaklawn’s three-year-old filly division, Robert and
Lawana Low’s royally-bred Arienza now seems poised to take on the challenge of
Sunday’s Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes, according to trainer Danny Peitz.
“It almost seems like we have to do it,” Peitz said Thursday morning. “She’s
doing fine and I wouldn’t do it if she wasn’t, and with just a couple horses
going, it seems like the right move.”
The other newsmaker already lined up for the Fantasy is Joyful Victory, an 8
3/4-length winner of the Grade 3 Honeybee at this track and 1 1/16-mile distance
on March 12.
Peitz has been reluctant to commit to the Fantasy because it comes just two
weeks after Arienza won her second career race and her first test around two
turns. With regal breeding as the daughter of champions Giant’s Causeway and
three-time Apple Blossom winner Azeri, stakes races are clearly in her future,
but Peitz does not want to rush things. Arienza only began her career March 6
with a snappy six-furlong victory.
Peitz eyed the Instant Racing Stakes on April 16 as an option that would give
his filly an extra week to recover and still be three weeks from the Grade 1
Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, but a full field is a possibility there.
Graded stakes earnings help determine eligibility, and the Instant Racing would
not help secure a spot in an over-subscribed field. With a small group gathering
for the Fantasy, Peitz sees an easy path to those all-important graded earnings.
Rival trainers have been complimentary of the two-for-two filly, including
the father-son team of Don and Donnie K. Von Hemel, the latter trainer of Hearts
on Fire, who is likely for the Instant Racing because Arienza and Joyful Victory
appear so imposing. Most have focused on Arienza’s mom, the 2002 Horse of the
Year, but Peitz returned compliments to the Von Hemels for their association
with Arienza’s granddam on her sire’s side, Mariah’s Storm, whom they trained to
multiple stakes wins.
“Donnie was joking about talking me into the Instant Racing because obviously
he’d like to go in the Fantasy,” Peitz said. “He and everybody keeps saying the
Azeri in her is going to come out. I said to Donnie, ‘maybe it’s that grandmom
that’s coming out.’ She was such a good mare and they did such a good job with
her, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if that was part of what my filly may
become.”
Mariah’s Storm won the Grade 2 Arlington-Washington Lassie in 1993 but
fractured a cannon bone in the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes. She was able to return
from that injury and win seven more stakes as a three- and four-year-old. The
Walt Disney film Dreamer was loosely based on Mariah’s Storm and her
comeback from that injury. Led by Giant’s Causeway, the European champion and
runner-up in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2000, Mariah’s Storm has
produced several stakes-caliber runners and stallions.