Unbridled Express Makes Long Awaited Appearance
Bernie Flint (pictured) ruled the Oaklawn trainer standings in 1992 and 1993, and knows a thing or two about the track. The veteran trainer will be sending highly regarded Unbridled Express out, his first start in more than two years, in Thursday’s second race.
The five-year-old Unbridled’s Song horse will be making his first appearance after suffering an injury in his first try at stakes company in the 2006 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga. Unbridled Express broke his maiden at Churchill Downs against eventual 2007 Kentucky Derby champion Street Sense. It has been an uphill battle for Flint to get his prized horse back to the races.
“We have him ready to run. We were looking for a race for him down here at Fair Grounds. They had one on the turf, but we wanted to run him on dirt,” commented Flint. “Oaklawn had this race come up and we were sending a couple of horses up there, and decided to send him. It took him two and a half years to make it back to the races. He suffered a small crack in his pastern in his last race so we turned him out to heal. It should have only taken two to three months to heal, but he kicked a fence and battled infections.”
“He then had some other issues come up and we had to take care of those. I own 25 percent of him and I know the rest of the owners are pumped about getting him back to the races,” mentioned Flint. “I have never trained a horse coming off such a long layoff like him, but he looks amazing. He looks like a multimillion dollar horse should.”
“Franciso Torres has been working the horse in the morning, and he wanted to ride him, so he will come up to ride him on Thursday,” Flint said. “I haven’t decided if I will come up with him or not, or if I will send an assistant to saddle. I’m sending a couple of other horses up there as well. We will see.”
The second race has a post time of 1:57 p.m. CDT and there will be a field of five others to battle Unbridled Express. Chris Richard will send out Valid Rule, who will look for his first win of the Oaklawn meet. Red Thunder enters the allowance race off a win in his last race. Ralph Nicks will bring in Grasmere Park for his start off an almost seven month layoff. Saada will represent the Steve Asmussen string in the five and one-half furlong sprint. Finally, trainer Ron Moquett’s Classic Attire will bump up to the allowance condition off an 11th place finish at the $30,000 claiming level.
Berry Making Up Ground
If he was a racehorse, then jockey Cliff Berry (pictured) would be called a deep closer. The Oaklawn regular started off the 2009 meet slowly, but has gained ground in the past month. He recorded his biggest win to date at Oaklawn aboard Win Willy in last week’s $300,000 Rebel Stakes.
The 46-year-old jockey enjoyed a big day yesterday at Oaklawn, winning four of the 11 races on the day’s card. He kicked things off with Lindsay’s Moment in the fourth race, Numismatist in the fifth race, Chase Our Hero in race seven, and finally Blue Heat in the ninth race. Not bad for Berry, who now sits in fourth in the jockey standings at the end of Saturday’s races.
“Yesterday was a great day. I have been fortunate here of late,” mentioned Berry. “One thing riders must have is patience, and that’s one thing I always seek . This year I’m lucky that I have a derby mount in Win Willy. Win Willy is still learning. The Rebel was only his fourth start, the first going around two turns. Often when a three-year-old gets good in the spring, he gets very good. I’m excited about the Arkansas Derby next.”
“I enjoy being close to home so after Oaklawn is over I will go to my usual tracks of Lone Star in Texas and then on to Remington Park in Oklahoma,” Berry chatted. “I have been coming to Oaklawn for the past 10 or 12 years, and really enjoy being here. It is a good meet to come to, and I always enjoy the fans.”
Berry fits Win Willy’s running style perfectly as they like to come from the back of the pack and spring a surprise.
A Little Bit More
Trainer Kelly Von Hemel confirmed this morning that both his entries from the Hot Springs Stakes, Semaphore Man and Red Hot N Gold (pictured on outside), came back home in good shape. “Of course I was disappointed by Semaphore Man’s performance, but those fractions cooked him. I knew that Red Hot N Gold could compete with that level of horses, but he is not much of a morning work horse. I didn’t know how fit he was,” said Von Hemel this morning. “We will look at the Count Fleet Stakes with both of them and see how that shapes up, how they come out of this last race, and how they train.”
A number of Oaklawn’s top horses took to the fast track this morning to work for upcoming races. Donnie K. Von Hemel’s Euphony, who won last years Instant Racing Breeders’ Cup, worked four panels in 48.00 in anticipation for her 2009 debut. Charles “Scooter” Dickey’s Flat Out, who finished a troubled fourth in the Southwest Stakes back on February 16th, worked five-eighths in 1:03.60. Oaklawn veteran Jonesboro worked a half-mile for trainer Randy Morse in 47.00, which marked the second fastest time for the distance.
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