Oaklawn Handicap a winnable race for Hard Aces

Hard Aces enters the Oaklawn Handicap in peak form (Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography) All in all, Hard Aces’ (Hard Spun) introduction to the big time didn’t turn out too badly. Saddled with post 13 in last month’s Santa Anita H. (G1), the five-year-old did well to finish fourth behind the likes of Shared Belief (Candy Ride) and Moreno (Ghostzapper). The field Hard Aces will face in Saturday’s $600,000 Oaklawn H. (G2) might be a bit deeper than the “Big ‘Cap” from top to bottom, but the 1 1/8-mile race looks more winnable. A multiple allowance winner with a couple minor stakes placings to his credit heading into the recent winter meet at Fair Grounds, Hard Aces made vast improvement during the New Orleans racing season. Second in the $50,000 Tenacious H. in his first start of the meet, he rebounded to take the $72,000 Louisiana by an impressive four lengths. That performance was so good he was privately acquired by Hronis Racing and moved to the John Sadler barn at Santa Anita. The Oaklawn H. will mark his second start for these connections.

Among those likely to head the pari-mutuel market are Race Day (Tapit), who
eked out a narrow win in last month’s Razorback H. (G3) for Todd Pletcher, and
Grade 2 veteran Tapiture (Tapit), a sub-par fifth in the Razorback after running
second in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) for Steve Asmussen.

Pletcher has another serious contender in Golden Lad (Medaglia d’Oro), who
took the 2014 Razorback and the this year’s $100,000 Essex H. in commanding
style. The five-year-old disappointed in this race last year, finishing fifth to
champion Will Take Charge.

Another looking to rebound from a so-so effort in the Razorback is Carve
(First Samurai), an impressive winner of the $100,000 Fifth Season in his season
debut. The Grade 3 scorer was a solid third in last year’s Oaklawn H.

Completing the field are local allowance winners Street Strategy (Street
Sense), Russellin (Old Fashioned), and For Greater Glory (Afleet Alex), stakes
winner Irish You Well (Broken Vow), and last-out Santa Anita allowance scorer
Sammy Mandeville (Rock Hard Ten).

The Arkansas Derby undercard also features $100,000
Northern
Spur for three-year-olds at one mile, and the $100,000
Instant
Racing for three-year-old fillies at six furlongs.

The Northern Spur features Hillbilly Royalty (Langfuhr), a dominating winner
of his first two starts who faded to fifth in the Rebel. Other leading
contenders include Holiday Man (Harlan’s Holiday) and Poseidon’s Way (Stormy
Atlantic), one-two in a recent allowance prep.

The undefeated Promise Me Silver (Silver City), who has won six in a row
including five stakes, is the marquee filly in the Instant Racing. Her main
rivals include Harbour Island (My Pal Charlie) and Indian Brava (Bernardini).

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