BY BROCK SHERIDAN
John Oxley’s Strategic Risk, once a contender on the Road to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade 1) as an easy winner of the $250,000 Smarty Jones in January, tries to again find his winning form in Saturday’s $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes for seven 3-year-olds going a mile at Oaklawn Park.
Trained by Mark Casse, Strategic Risk had a solid juvenile year, winning the $300,000 In Reality, the mile-and-one-sixteenth leg in the male division of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes at Gulfstream Park in November. He improved on that route in his first start this year, winning the Smarty Jones at the same distance by four-and-a-lengths on January 3 at Oaklawn, earning 10 points on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. But he could not maintain the momentum in his next two efforts, finishing tenth of 12 in the Southwest and sixth in the Rebel, both races that offered additional qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
Strategic Risk has a career record of three wins with a third in eight starts with earnings of $442,300. He is out of Strategize, by Afleet Alex and was bred in Florida by John Oxley Living Trust.
Javier Castellano has ridden Strategic Risk in his last five races and gets the return mount Saturday. They are 20-1 on the morning line and will break from post six.
Another Hot Springs runner who has left the Kentucky Derby trail is 6-5 Desert Gate for trainer Bob Baffert.
Desert Gate travels to Oaklawn from Baffert’s base in Southern California where in his only start this this year, he was fourth in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis going a mile at Santa Anita on February 7.
In his last race as a 2-year-old on October 4, Desert Gate was second in the Grade 1 American Pharoah going a mile-and-a-sixteenth at Los Alamitos Race Course.
Desert Gate is owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman and has earned $252,000 from two wins and two seconds in five starts. His owners purchased him as Three Amigos for $260,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales March Sale where he was consigned by Navas Equine.
Desert Gate will be ridden from post one of Flavien Prat.
Also entered are Lincoln’s Law and jockey Luis Saez, Bricklin with Jaime Torres named to ride, Ramon Vazquez has the mount on Race Ready, Top Level will have Cristian Torres up and Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call on Soldier N Diplomat.
Return to the March 25 issue of Wire to Wire
