Lake Hamilton & Bachelor Stakes Recap
Compiled by Robert Yates
Contact: Chris Ho, Vice President of Marketing, cho@oaklawn.com, 501-623-4411 ext. 4201
Friday, May 2, 2025
Photo Credit: Coady Media
SKELLY - Lake Hamilton Stakes - 3rd Running
MAX GOT EXCITED - Bachelor Stakes - 38th Running
HOT SPRINGS, AR – He’s the perfect 10.
Skelly delivered another freakishly fast performance Friday afternoon at Oaklawn, cruising to a 10 ½-length victory over stablemate Ryvit in the $200,000 Lake Hamilton Stakes for older horses.
Skelly, the 1-9 favorite under regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr., became the first horse to win 10 consecutive races at Oaklawn, a streak that includes three editions of the Lake Hamilton. The six-furlong race debuted in 2023.
Racing over a sloppy, sealed surface, Skelly ($2.20) stopped the clock in 1:08.15, just off the track record of 1:07.80, set by Karen’s Tom in the 1990 Bachelor Stakes for 3-year-olds. Skelly carried equal top weight of 124 pounds.
As expected, Skelly bolted to the lead from post 5 and wasn’t pressured through a :22.05 opening quarter. The lead grew to four lengths after a half-mile in :44.54. Skelly was 7 ½ clear in midstretch and coasted to the finish.
Ryvit finished a half-length ahead of third-place finisher Durante, who was followed by Raymond and Midnight Pranks. Happy American was scratched.
The victory, Skelly’s 12th in 21 starts overall, pushed his earnings to $1,975,763. Skelly has become unbeatable at Oaklawn, where he has won 10 of 12 starts, including six stakes, and earned $1,307,263. In addition to three victories in the Lake Hamilton, Skelly won Oaklawn’s $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) in 2023 and 2024 and its $150,000 King Cotton Stakes last year.
Skelly’s 10 consecutive Oaklawn victories have all come at six furlongs. He’s broken 1:10 in every victory, including 1:08.82 – his previous fastest time – in the 2024 Count Fleet. Skelly won his season debut, an April 11 allowance at Oaklawn, by 5 ¼ lengths in 1:09.27.
As an agent for Red Lane Thoroughbreds, Frank Alosa, Hicks’ longtime racing and bloodstock manager, purchased Skelly for $250,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s Selected Yearling Showcase Sale in 2020. A 6-year-old gelded son of Practical Joke, Skelly was bred in Kentucky by Allen Poindexter, one of the leading owners in Oaklawn history.
Skelly’s career took off at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting after he was gelded and equipped with blinkers. Skelly wears an extension blinker (the blinker cup almost completely covers his right eye) because of his history of drifting out in races.
Skelly is a seven-time stakes winner.
$175,000 Bachelor Stakes
Max Got Excited took command on the outside in the final furlong to win the $175,000 Bachelor Stakes Friday afternoon at Oaklawn.
Ridden by Francisco Arrieta, Max Got Excited finished 2 ½ lengths ahead of Cool Cowboy in the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds. Kale’s Angel, the 6-5 favorite, finished 1 ¼ lengths farther back in third. A claim of foul by Cristian Torres, rider of fourth-place finisher Amor Patriae, against Max Got Excited for alleged interference at the start was disallowed by track stewards.
Wildncrazynight, Baby Boat, Bye Bye Miles, Putting Eagle and Raise the Bar completed the order of finish.
Max Got Excited ($11.20) broke in at the start from post 9 and was seventh early before a wide rally on the turn. Max Got Excited swung five-wide into the stretch and grabbed the lead over a tiring Kale’s Angel just inside the eighth pole.
Max Got Excited, under 119 pounds, ran six furlongs over a sloppy, sealed surface in 1:09.92. A Louisiana-bred son of Aurelius Maximus, Max Got Excited races for trainer Brett Creighton and owner Danny Keene. In his previous start, finished fourth behind Preakness-bound Clever Again in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes for 3-year-olds at one mile March 30 at Oaklawn.
The Bachelor was the second victory in seven lifetime starts for Max Got Excited and raised his earnings to $160,478. He broke his maiden March 15 at Oaklawn.
Max Got Excited represented the second victory on the card for Arrieta. Torres won four races Friday to finish the 2024-2025 Oaklawn meeting with 62 victories. He is scheduled to ride Saturday at Churchill Downs. Arrieta also has 62 victories entering Oaklawn’s closing-day Saturday card.
Oaklawn has 12 races Saturday, with first post noon (Central). The card is headed by the $200,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes for older horses at 1 1/16 miles and the $200,000 Arkansas Breeders’ Championship Stakes for state-breds, 3 and up, at 1 1/16 miles. Mystik Dan, the 2024 Kentucky Derby winner, is entered in the Lake Ouachita.
LAKE HAMILTON STAKES QUOTES
WINNING JOCKEY RICARDO SANTANA JR. (SKELLY): “This horse is doing better and better and better. He came off the layoff in the allowance race (April 11), I was really surprised how he broke. He looked so much different. He looked more mature. He broke on the lead (today) and when I asked him turning for home, he had plenty in the tank.”
WINNING ASSISTANT TRAINER DARREN FLEMING (SKELLY): “I can’t believe it (time), as easy as he was moving. I didn’t know he was going that fast down the backside, but he ran great. This year, hopefully, will be his biggest year. He does things (this year) way easier, it seems like, somehow, and he’s acting good, handling good.”
SECOND-PLACE JOCKEY KEITH ASMUSSEN (RYVIT): “I told Ricardo (Santana) after the race, I said, ‘What the heck, the police are looking for you. You went too fast.’ No, I’m just playing. The horse I rode, I absolutely love him to death. He’s always so game.”
BACHELOR QUOTES
WINNING JOCKEY FRANCISCO ARRIETA (MAX GOT EXCITED): “When the gate opened, he just jumped to the inside. I couldn’t do much. When I took him to the outside, he didn’t get the kickback, so he started going when I showed him the way.”
WINNING OWNER DANNY KEENE (MAX GOT EXCITED): “There were some tough horses. I was worried about it. I was really worried because he’s a closer and I didn’t know if he could close in this mud. But he handled it good. He’s never really ran that much in the mud, so it surprised me.”
