4/4/26 Barn Notes
By Robert Yates
Champion Nitrogen was installed the 9-5 program favorite for the $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) for older fillies and mares April 11 at Oaklawn.
The 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom headlines a 12-race card that begins at 12:45 p.m. CDT. Probable post time for the Apple Blossom, the 10th race, is 5:47 p.m.
The projected nine-horse Apple Blossom field from the rail out: Nitrogen, Jose Ortiz to ride, 122 pounds, 9-5 on the morning line; Majestic Oops, Francisco Arrieta, 121, 9-2; Regaled, Joe Ramos, 119, 3-1; Dazzling Move, Edwin Gonzalez, 116, 15-1; Om N Joy, Kent Desormeaux, 118, 15-1; Nerazurri, Cristian Torres, 120, 6-1; Five G, John Velazquez, 119, 10-1; Claret Beret, Micah Husbands, 120, 8-1; and Blue Fire, Florent Geroux, 116, 15-1.
The Apple Blossom brings back Majestic Oops, Regaled and Nitrogen, 1-2-3, respectively, in the $400,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) March 7. The 1 1/16-mile Azeri, run over a sloppy, sealed surface, was the final major local prep for the Apple Blossom.
Nitrogen, North America’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2025, opened her 2026 campaign with a 2 ¾-length victory over Nerazurri in the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 7.
The Apple Blossom is a “Win and You’re In” for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
The April 11 card also features the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older horses at six furlongs.
Defending champion Booth is one of eight horses entered in the Count Fleet, a race that his Hall of Fame trainer, Steve Asmussen, has won four consecutive years and a record seven times overall.
The Count Fleet also drew Maximum Bourbon, Tough Catch, Mad House, Roll On Big Joe, Wendelssohn, Tejano Twist and Dreaminblue.
Millionaire Tejano Twist and Tough Catch finished 1-2, respectively, in the six-fulrong $250,000 Whitmore Stakes (G3) for older horses March 14. The Whitmore was the final major local prep for the Count Fleet. Booth won the 2025 Whitmore. Roll On Big Joe is seeking his fourth consecutive stakes victory and third stakes victory at the meeting.
The Count Fleet goes as the eighth race, with probable post time 4:36 p.m.
Casse Making Plans
Silent Tactic, Counting Stars and Search Party have all returned to the track in advance of scheduled starts in the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.
Counting Stars and Search Party finished 1-2, respectively, in the $1 million Fantasy Stakes (G2) March 27. Silent Tactic ran second in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) March 28.
“Jogged a couple of days and galloped and they’ve been doing everything real easy,” Caden Arthur, who oversees Casse’s Oaklawn division, said Saturday morning.
Arthur said the trio will have their final Oaklawn workouts around April 12 or April 13 before departing for Churchill Downs.
“The trailer will leave a couple of days after that,” Arthur said.
Silent Tactic was the only horse to run in all four of Oaklawn’s Kentucky Derby qualifying races. Counting Stars and Search Party were the only horses to go through Oaklawn’s three-race Kentucky Oaks qualifying series.
Two-time Oaklawn riding champion Cristian Torres will ride Silent Tactic in the Kentucky Derby and Search Party in the Kentucky Oaks, Arthur said.
Haulin Awards
Multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Haulin Ice was crowned 2025 Arkansas-bred Horse of the Year during the annual Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Horsemen’s Association banquet Friday night at the Oaklawn Event Center.
Haulin Ice became the leading accredited Arkansas-bred money winner in history with a victory in the Princess Rooney Stakes (G3) Sept. 20 at Gulfstream Park. Haulin Ice collected $115,200 for the front-running 4 ¾-length score, pushing her career total to $958,650. Haulin Ice surpassed Nodouble, the country’s two-time champion older horse who completed his racing career in 1970 with $846,749 in earnings. Nodouble won the 1968 Arkansas Derby.
Haulin Ice compiled a 5-2-0 record from nine starts last year and earned $550,900. She made two starts in 2025 at Oaklawn, scoring runaway victories against state-breds ($150,000 Downthedustyroad Stakes) and open company ($250,000 Matron Stakes).
Haulin Ice recorded her first career graded stakes victory in the Vagrancy (G3) May 4 at Aqueduct. Haulin Ice concluded her 2025 campaign with a sixth-place finish in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
A now-5-year-old daughter of millionaire Oaklawn stakes winner Coal Front, Haulin Ice was also named the ATBHA’s 2024 Horse of the Year.
She’s Smoke, Haulin Ice’s dam, Street Strategy and Bill McDowell (McDowell Farm) also repeated as ATBHA Broodmare of the Year, Stallion of the Year and Breeder of the Year, respectively.
Haulin Ice became the first accredited Arkansas-bred to surpass $1 million in career earnings with a front-running 11 ¾-length victory in the Downthedustyroad Feb. 20. Haulin Ice ran the fastest six furlongs in Oaklawn history by a female (1:08.75).
Haulin Ice returned to win the Matron March 27 for Florida-based trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and owners C2 Racing Stable (brothers Mark and Clint Cornett), WSS Racing (William Simon) and Agave Racing Stable (Mark Martinez).
The ATBHA is the official breed registry for all registered Arkansas-bred Thoroughbreds.
Finish Lines
There is no racing Sunday at Oaklawn in observance of Easter. Abbreviated training hours are 6:50 a.m.-9 a.m. CDT. … There were abbreviated training hours Saturday because of heavy rain and high wind. The track closed at 8:15 a.m., roughly two hours earlier than normal. … Caden Arthur, who oversees dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse’s Oaklawn division, said Saturday morning that Dixie Belle winner French Friction will make her next start in the Eight Belles Stakes (G2) May 1 at Churchill Downs. French Friction, in her two-turn debut, finished fourth in the Ashland Stakes (G1) Friday at Keeneland. The seven-furlong Eight Belles is for 3-year-old fillies. … Walk Away Kaye ($4.80) became the 10th consecutive favorite in a 2025-2026 Oaklawn stakes race to win, taking Friday’s $150,000 Rainbow Miss for accredited Arkansas-bred 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs. … Jockey Geovanni Franco, a former Oaklawn regular, was named on five horses Saturday after previously being based in Southern California and Arizona. Franco’s first mount of the meeting resulted in his first victory as Treble Clef ($8.60) edged The Thunderer by a neck in the third race for trainer Norm Casse. It was Franco’s 91st career Oaklawn victory and first in Hot Springs since May 8, 2022. … Oaklawn will go to eight-race cards the next three Thursdays, director of racing Jason Milligan said Saturday afternoon. … Through Friday, Day 46 of the 2025-2026 meeting, 361 claims totaled $7,472,000, according to figures released by Oaklawn
