COUNTDOWN TO LIVE RACING POST TIME 1 P.M. TODAY : Sun rising on Oaklawn
Posted on Friday, January 20, 2006
HOT SPRINGS — Even though he’s ruled the competition the past few years, Cole Norman is fairly certain that even he can’t dent the wave of momentum Oaklawn Park is riding.
On the heels of Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex, and the phenomenal success of electronic gaming, Oaklawn packs a much bigger punch these days.
The influence of the Big Easy only figures to make the punches harder, especially on Norman, who is seeking his sixth consecutive training title.
“As far as the quality of my horses compared to last year, I think it’s about exactly the same,” said Norman, whose average margin over runner-ups Steve Asmussen and Stanley Roberts the past three years was a staggering 37 victories. “But the competition is going to be so stiff. In my opinion, Oaklawn is going to be the toughest it has been in no telling when, with the horses you’ve got there. That’s what I’m seeing.” Norman isn’t alone.
Oaklawn’s 56-day live season that begins today could be the most anticipated since the Cella family opened the track in 1904.
Not only is Oaklawn still on the Triple Crown high, courtesy of Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex, the track has benefited greatly from Fair Grounds running an abbreviated meet this season.
Fair Grounds normally runs Thanksgiving until late March, but damage in late August from Hurricane Katrina forced the New Orleans track to conduct a shortened meeting at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La. That 37-day session ends Sunday.
Without the normal headto-head competition from Fair Grounds, Oaklawn’s roster of trainers and jockeys with nationally known credentials has swelled.
Six-time Fair Grounds riding champion Robby Albarado headlines the New Orleans-based contingent that has migrated north.
Albarado, Oaklawn’s leading rider in 1996-1997, will be joined by James Graham, Corey Lanerie, John Jacinto and Brian Hernandez Jr., who earned an Eclipse Award in the 2004 as the country’s top apprentice.
Among the top Fair Grounds trainers who will have strings this year at Hot Springs are Gammy Vazquez, Tom Amoss, Dallas Stewart, Al Stall, Neil Howard, Bobby Barnett, Bret Calhoun and Michael Pino.
How far has Oaklawn come in only two years ?
At the 2004 meeting, Lynn Whiting was the only Oaklawnbased trainer with a Triple Crown victory. Now, trainers with a combined 20 victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont will have strings on the grounds this year.
“I think it will be the toughest bunch that Oaklawn has seen in years and years, if not forever,” said trainer Larry Jones, an Oaklawn regular. “It’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be hard [for trainers ] to get [horses ] in a lot of races.” Media relations director Terry Wallace said Oaklawn received a record 2, 800 stall applications, which is about 800 more than normal.
There are already more than 1, 000 horses stabled at Oaklawn, with hundreds more at Louisiana Downs, or on nearby farms.
For today’s nine-race card, 98 horses were entered, six more than last year’s opening-day program.
An indication of the depth — in at least one category — is a 1-mile maiden-allowance event today for 3-year-olds that drew 29 entries. Racing secretary Pat Pope split the race into two events, with 12 horses entered in each. Three races with similar conditions were offered during opening weekend the past three years, drawing a total of 29 horses combined.
The hope, Pope said, is maybe a Smarty Jones or Afleet Alex, who combined won four of the past six Triple Crown races after prepping in Hot Springs, will begin to emerge today.
“That’s strong,” Pope said of number of 3-year-olds who entered the split race. “I hope that’s indicative of certain categories [all meeting ]. It’s easier when better races fill and you don’t have to ask.” Pope said his condition book covering the first 11 days of racing came out before Hurricane Katrina, so he’ll probably have to adjust the second and third books to account for the higher quality.
That should translate into a higher purses since more allowance and high-priced claiming events will have sufficient entries.
Pope said he’s projecting an average daily purse structure of $ 275, 000, about $ 15, 000 higher than last year’s record. But Pope said purses could reach $ 300, 000 daily before the season ends April 15 because business is expected to be brisk, on and off track.
The all-source record for average daily mutuel handle of almost $ 5. 3 million in 2002 should be obliterated.
Oaklawn will be competing for the money that used to go to Fair Grounds races — $ 3. 9 million in daily simulcasting handle last year. Plus, Oaklawn will send full cards to the lucrative Canadian market for the first time after adopting net pool pricing last month.
A relatively new pari-mutuel process, net pool pricing allows co-mingled wagers from jurisdictions with different takeout structures.
Bobby Geiger, Oaklawn’s director of wagering and simulcast, said he believes Canada will be the largest market wagering into Oaklawn’s pools. Because of the expected heavy Canadian play, Oaklawn has added two superfectas and a Pick 4 this year.
And Instant Racing, the electronic pari-mutuel game that debuted in early 2000, will have 101 additional terminals today, guaranteeing a slew of $ 1 million handle days.
“We’re cautiously optimistic that the numbers we hang up this season will be similar to last year,” Oaklawn General Manager Eric Jackson said. “We never expected to have as good a season last year as we did.” There was no hangover from the “Smarty Party” thrown in 2004 as average daily attendance (12, 842 ) and on-track handle ($ 1, 052, 129 ) climbed 3. 1 and 1. 9 percent, respectively, last year.
The party should be even bigger in 2006.
“Everybody’s excited,” said Jerry Hissam of Hot Springs, the longtime agent for two-time Oaklawn riding champion Calvin Borel. “Everybody is predicting a great meet. Management has made a couple of great moves by adding superfectas and a Pick 4. Of course, Pat’s always had full fields here, but you might even expect fuller fields.” Larger fields, more quality and plenty of new faces promise to make it tougher on handicappers and trainers — even a trainer as successful as Cole Norman.
“I don’t expect to go in there and just win 50 or more like we did the last three or four years,” said Norman, who set a singleseason Oaklawn mark with 71 victories in 2003. “And I’m OK with that. I do think we’ll have a good meet. Being leading trainer ? I think those days are over, I really do. I can live with it.”
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