Shifman: Oaklawn Park's stakes making a national splash

With only a handful of tracks left running each weekend, Oaklawn Park has been the site of the most important races during the month of April, even if only a couple of stakes carried graded states.

That reflected Monday as the latest NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll featured each of Ce Ce, Tom’s d’Etat, and Whitmore in the Top 10 off victories at the Arkansas track.

The lightly raced 4-year-old filly Ce Ce joined the rankings at No. 4 after  besting a talented field of 14 in the Apple Blossom (G1). With her victory in the Beholder Mile (G1) last month at Santa Anita Park, that makes her the first horse in 2020 with multiple Grade 1 wins.

The Michael McCarthy runner showed her talent by overcoming post position 14 with a late charge to prevail by a head with the help of the Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza.

“I hit the first turn three or four wide and it was perfect. I was smiling because it was exactly what I wanted,” Espinoza said. “Down the backside I had to put her in the race because I didn’t want the speed to get away from me. At the three-eighths, I put her behind the speed and just waited. Turning for home I was just loaded. It’s always fun to ride horses like Ce Ce. She’s an amazing filly.”

Tom’s d’Etat exited 2019 with consecutive graded stakes victories, and he continued that streak when flew past Improbable down the stretch to win going away in the Oaklawn Mile. Although not a graded stakes race, the Oaklawn Mile's high-quality field stamped the Al Stall Jr. trainee as a serious contender for the Breeders' Cup Classic and year-end awards. He came in at No. 8 this week.

“I couldn’t be any more happy with exactly how it turned out,” trainer Al Stall Jr. said. “The type of race he had, and the way Joel (Rosario) rode him to save a little bit to keep us on the upward part of the curve. That’s the hottest word in America right now. We don’t want to flatten the curve with this horse.”

The 7-year-old Whitmore won the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for the third time in the past four years on Saturday, which landed him at No. 10 in this week’s poll. The victory was his ninth at Oaklawn and pushed his earnings past the $3 million mark. The Ron Moquett superstar now has career stats of 34: 14-10-3 since he won his debut race back in 2015 and then hit the board three times on the Kentucky Derby trail in Arkansas.

“I’m noticing lately people saying, ‘The great’ and ‘legendary.’ People that are saying that don’t throw around those words,” Moquett said. “To me, he’s been that. But it’s so cool to see this horse that has so many people that love him and follow him to be able to do what he does and to make a lot of people that happy."

Oaklawn Park's impact on racing will continue in the final two weeks of its meet, particularly from May 1-2 when it hosts the Fantasy (G3) for 3-year-old fillies, the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses and the Arkansas Derby (G1) for 3-year-olds.

It is worth noting that the Florida Derby winner Tiz the Law remains at No. 1 in the Top 3-Year-Old Poll, receiving 32 out of 37 of the first-place votes. He was not nominated for the Arkansas Derby, while the other five ballots put either Bob Baffert-trained Authentic or Charlatan atop the rankings. Tiz the Law is 13th by votes in the Top Thoroughbred Poll as the highest-placing sophomore.