Coach may have 2! Oxbow & Will Take Charge
Jan 23, 2013 0:27:37 GMT -5
Post by racinggal on Jan 23, 2013 0:27:37 GMT -5
After sweeping the Smarty Jones and Lecomte, Lukas making plans for Round 2
By Mary Rampellini
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oxbow and Will Take Charge have put their Hall of Fame trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, front and center on the Kentucky Derby trail after a holiday weekend in which they won 3-year-old preps at two different tracks. Oxbow romped by 11 lengths in the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte at Fair Grounds on Saturday, while Will Take Charge fought for a neck win in the $150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn on Monday.
Lukas has won the Kentucky Derby four times, his latest coming in 1999 with Charismatic. He is based at Oaklawn and on Tuesday reflected on the big weekend and began looking into next-race options for Oxbow, who races for Bluegrass Hall LLC, and Will Take Charge, who is owned by Willis D. Horton.
“It was a great weekend, and we’re grateful for it,” Lukas said. “Things came together. [But] it’s Jan. 22. Humility’s only one race away. But having said that, we’re ecstatic about our position and what we’ve got in front of us, and the opportunity to maybe move forward.”
Oxbow earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 91 in the Lecomte, as well as 10 points on the new system governing Kentucky Derby eligibility if the May 4 classic is oversubscribed. He currently ranks third in points, with 11, the additional point earned for his fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park in December. Lukas said Tuesday that
the horse’s next start would likely come in either the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star at 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds on Feb. 23 or the Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn on March 16.
“We got a couple pluses,” Lukas said of Oxbow. “Number one, we shipped . . . he got in there the night before late, walked out on a track he’d never seen before, annihilated a field, and came home. So we know he can handle that.
“Now, do we come out of our own stall here and run in the Rebel or another race? Or do we take the position that, ‘Well, he loved that situation. He dominated those horses.’ [And] even though some of those guys have got another horse and there will be some shippers, do you go back and try them again, or do you stay here? I’m not sure yet.”
Will Take Charge earned 10 points for his win in the Smarty Jones, a one-mile race in which he was forced six wide into the first turn, stalked the pace down the backside, bid three wide on the final turn, and prevailed by a neck after a stretch battle with Texas Bling. Will Take Charge, who like Oxbow was ridden by Jon Court, earned a career-high Beyer of 86. He came out of the race in good order, Lukas said, after a few anxious moments Monday.
“He stumbled pulling up, and Jon thought that he probably tweaked or jammed something,” Lukas said. “When he got to the test barn, both state vets checked him, my vet checked him. We jogged him down the road, he was fine. He’s fine this morning.”
Will Take Charge, who is a half-brother to 2012 Florida Derby winner Take Charge Indy, will follow a different 3-year-old path than Oxbow, Lukas said.
“Obviously, we’re going to separate them to give them both a chance to get some points,” he said.
Lukas said Tuesday that he considers Will Take Charge more of a candidate for the Rebel than Oaklawn’s upcoming 3-year-old prep, the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest on Feb. 18.
www.drf.com/news/oaklawn-park-after-sweeping-smarty-jones-and-lecomte-lukas-making-plans-round-2
Photo: Coady Photography
Will Take Charge wins the Smarty Jones
By Mary Rampellini
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oxbow and Will Take Charge have put their Hall of Fame trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, front and center on the Kentucky Derby trail after a holiday weekend in which they won 3-year-old preps at two different tracks. Oxbow romped by 11 lengths in the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte at Fair Grounds on Saturday, while Will Take Charge fought for a neck win in the $150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn on Monday.
Lukas has won the Kentucky Derby four times, his latest coming in 1999 with Charismatic. He is based at Oaklawn and on Tuesday reflected on the big weekend and began looking into next-race options for Oxbow, who races for Bluegrass Hall LLC, and Will Take Charge, who is owned by Willis D. Horton.
“It was a great weekend, and we’re grateful for it,” Lukas said. “Things came together. [But] it’s Jan. 22. Humility’s only one race away. But having said that, we’re ecstatic about our position and what we’ve got in front of us, and the opportunity to maybe move forward.”
Oxbow earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 91 in the Lecomte, as well as 10 points on the new system governing Kentucky Derby eligibility if the May 4 classic is oversubscribed. He currently ranks third in points, with 11, the additional point earned for his fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park in December. Lukas said Tuesday that
the horse’s next start would likely come in either the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star at 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds on Feb. 23 or the Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn on March 16.
“We got a couple pluses,” Lukas said of Oxbow. “Number one, we shipped . . . he got in there the night before late, walked out on a track he’d never seen before, annihilated a field, and came home. So we know he can handle that.
“Now, do we come out of our own stall here and run in the Rebel or another race? Or do we take the position that, ‘Well, he loved that situation. He dominated those horses.’ [And] even though some of those guys have got another horse and there will be some shippers, do you go back and try them again, or do you stay here? I’m not sure yet.”
Will Take Charge earned 10 points for his win in the Smarty Jones, a one-mile race in which he was forced six wide into the first turn, stalked the pace down the backside, bid three wide on the final turn, and prevailed by a neck after a stretch battle with Texas Bling. Will Take Charge, who like Oxbow was ridden by Jon Court, earned a career-high Beyer of 86. He came out of the race in good order, Lukas said, after a few anxious moments Monday.
“He stumbled pulling up, and Jon thought that he probably tweaked or jammed something,” Lukas said. “When he got to the test barn, both state vets checked him, my vet checked him. We jogged him down the road, he was fine. He’s fine this morning.”
Will Take Charge, who is a half-brother to 2012 Florida Derby winner Take Charge Indy, will follow a different 3-year-old path than Oxbow, Lukas said.
“Obviously, we’re going to separate them to give them both a chance to get some points,” he said.
Lukas said Tuesday that he considers Will Take Charge more of a candidate for the Rebel than Oaklawn’s upcoming 3-year-old prep, the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest on Feb. 18.
www.drf.com/news/oaklawn-park-after-sweeping-smarty-jones-and-lecomte-lukas-making-plans-round-2
Photo: Coady Photography
Will Take Charge wins the Smarty Jones