Max Player returns in Saturday allowance at Oaklawn

Max Player, winner of three graded stakes, will return to racing Saturday after a seven-month layoff.

Last seen finishing fourth in the Suburban (G2) in July at Belmont for trainer Steve Asmussen, the now 6-year-old is entered in a $106,000 optional-claiming allowance race at Oaklawn.

“He’s in good shape, he’s healthy, he’s still lightly raced, and we’re going to see if he’s got another few races left in him,” co-owner George Hall told Horse Racing Nation Monday.

“He seems happy, according to Steve he’s doing great in his workouts. So let’s see what he’s got,” Hall said.

Max Player was on the COVID-altered Kentucky Derby trail in 2020 after winning the Withers (G3) in his third start. Initially trained by Linda Rice, he was third in the Belmont and Travers (G1) before being switched to Asmussen for the Derby in September, finishing fifth.

He went on to win the 2021 Suburban and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) but went 0-for-4 since.

The son of Honor Code has been working at Oaklawn, breezing four furlongs Tuesday in 50.2 seconds. This will be Max Player’s first start at Oaklawn.

Also entered in Saturday’s race is Caddo River, who has raced nine times at the Arkansas track and won the Smarty Jones there in 2021.

After finishing second by a neck in a Jan. 21 optional-claiming allowance, Caddo River was scratched from last weekend’s Razorback (G3) by new trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who won with Last Samurai. Lukas took over Caddo River from Brad Cox.

Besides Max Player, the only other horse in the field to win a graded stakes is Background, who won the 2021 Longacres Mile (G3) at Emerald Downs.