Basin may benefit from two-turn experience in Oaklawn Stakes
When jockey Javier Castellano hopped off Basin after a third-place finish in last month’s Rebel Stakes (G2), he reported to Steve Asmussen that it was as if the colt thought the race was over into the far turn at Oaklawn Park.
In that respect, connections are hoping for a move forward when the Grade 1 winner goes second off the bench in Saturday’s $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes, a local prep for the May 2 Arkansas Derby (G1).
Basin, a son of Liam’s Map, will have Florent Geroux in the irons as Castellano awaits his comeback from a positive test for COVID-19. The pair will break from the rail in a field of 13 with Basin the 7-2 second morning line choice.
“He had to re-engage,” Ryne Poncik, son-in-law of Jackpot Farm chief Terry Green, said of Basin’s Rebel effort. “You’ll see he got a length and a half behind Nadal and he thought it was over. Then he got five lengths back but re-engaged at the top of the stretch.”
In what was his first start since winning the Hopeful Stakes (G1) on closing day last summer at Saratoga, Basin just got up past Three Technique to fill out the board.
Basin missed out on campaigning in the fall and winter due to a minor injury suffered after the Hopeful. That made for a tight squeeze if he was to peak on the first Saturday in May.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Green has seen his casino businesses shuttered. Poncik works in the oil industry, where prices are low. On the equine side, at least, the coronavirus has provided the benefit of more time for Basin.
“It’s just more learning experience. Of course, he wasn’t going to be totally tight going into that race,” Poncik said of the Rebel. “Steve wanted to go into the Oaklawn Stakes to keep the air in him and get another race under his belt around two turns.”
The 1 1/8-mile race inaugurated last year as the Oaklawn Invitational, and Asmussen won it with Laughing Fox. Named the Oaklawn Stakes when the Hot Springs, Ark., track reshuffled its stakes offerings this spring, the race still offers a Preakness Stakes bid. Additionally, its top-three finishers receive a guaranteed berth in the May 2 Arkansas Derby.
Basin may already have $361,000 in earnings, but connections will feel better if he can hit the board Saturday.
“I think everybody and their mom’s pointing to the Arkansas Derby,” Poncik said. “If we finish up the track, we won’t be going. But we’re not anticipating that.”
A $150,000 yearling purchase, Basin hasn’t finished worse than third in four career starts, winning two of them.