Oaklawn Park, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, is one of the diamonds in the rough on the American racing scene and bettors could do much worse than handicapping these competitive races. The track will open January 13 and the entry box attracted fully subscribed fields.
There is not just racing at the big venues of the country like California, New York and Kentucky but some very classy and fan friendly action takes place at Oaklawn Park.
When the fields are short on the inner strip at Aqueduct or during the meet at Santa Anita, players can gander at the spread-out fields at Oaklawn Park and search for value.
Oaklawn Park first opened its doors in 1905. The Arkansas Derby, which has become a major steppingstone to the Triple Crown, was first run at Oaklawn Park in 1936.
Last year, Creator came from dead last to win the Arkansas Derby and proved it was no fluke by taking the Belmont Stakes.
The track itself is a dirt oval at a mile and there is no turf course. Beside the premier Derby, other big races during the meeting will be the Apple Blossom, the Fantasy Stakes, the Rebel Stakes and the Oaklawn Handicap.
To get an edge, let’s try to get a heads up on a few of the trainers at Oaklawn Park that are not named Steve Asmussen, who lead the conditioners in wins last year with 46 at the meeting. Asmussen saddled 218 starters. He won at 21% and 50% of his runners ran in the money.
One of the trainers that did it with quality rather than quantity last season was Brad Cox. The equine mentor only had 89 starters last season but he greeted 23 of them back in the winner’s circle. Cox enjoyed the best year of his career in 2016. He won over 100 races and his stabled earned over $5.4 million. He guided stakes winners Spelling Again, Cash Control and Chocolate Ride with an expert hand.
Another trainer that must be respected is Robertino Diodoro. He won at a 31% clips last season and he spots his horses superbly year in and year out. The trainer comes from a racing family and he runs strings of horses at Turf Paradise and Santa Anita. One of this trainer’s best ploys is when he brings a horse back after being away for a half a year or more. Diodoro is 29% with that type of runner with a median payoff of 2-1.
Ron Moquett is an up and coming overseer of horses that must be watched. The Arkansas native used to skip classes at the University to sneak off to the races and that is where he developed the love for the game.
He learned under the very cagey Bernie Flint and moved his way up from hotwalker to foreman before going out on his own in 1996. He knows what it takes to get the most of his quality runners as his trainee Seek Gold shocked the field in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster a few seasons ago.
Be aware when Moquett tinkers with the blinkers. He is 25% the last 5 years when he switched to blinkers off with a median payoff of 7-2.
These are just 2 of the trainers at Oaklawn Park that can fly below the radar but they are not the only well-schooled teachers.
Online sports betting site players should also pay strict attention to runners sent out by Albert Stall, Wayne Catalano, Chris Hartman and Randy Morse. Those trainers at last year’s Oaklawn meeting hit at 35%, 26%, 21% and 20% respectively.
Carlos Santana is surely one of the best guitarists of all time but he has nothing on Richard Santana Jr. when it comes to booting home winners. Richard led the Oaklawn Park jockey standings last year with 80 victories and his nearest rival has just over half of that number.
Corey Nakatani took time to get rolling last meeting but he is one of the best riders in the world and he popped with 18% of his mounts. Chris Landeros always gives an honest rider to his racers and it shows as he was in the money in 50% of his starts at the Oaklawn Park meeting last winter.
Enjoy the days betting at Oaklawn Park and the nights partying with the winnings.
