Oaklawn: Breeders' Cup runners Skelly, Banishing meet Saturday

Two starters in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, local sensation Skelly and Banishing, headline the Ring the Bell Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs Saturday at Oaklawn.

Probable post time for the Ring the Bell, the eighth of 10 races, is 3:52 p.m. EST. Racing begins at 1:30 p.m.

Click here for Oaklawn entries and results.

Skelly is bidding for a record-tying seventh career Oaklawn stakes victory and a record-extending 11th consecutive victory overall in Hot Springs.

Skelly emerged as a top sprinter during the 2022-23 Oaklawn meeting with victories in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) and Lake Hamilton Stakes. During the 2023-24 Oaklawn meeting, Skelly won the King Cotton Stakes, Count Fleet and Lake Hamilton.

After finishing 10th in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Skelly returned to win an April allowance race at Oaklawn by 5 1/4 lengths. He then romped by 10 1/2 lengths in the Lake Hamilton on May 2, covering six furlongs over a sloppy, sealed surface in 1:08.15, just off the 1:07.80 track record.

But Skelly is winless in his last three starts, including a sixth-place finish in his last race, the six-furlong Phoenix Stakes (G2) on Oct. 3 at Keeneland.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said Skelly, a 6-year-old Practical Joke gelding, is at a crossroad in his 24-race career because of gate trouble that has resurfaced in his last three races, sluggish starts that have impacted his freakish natural early speed.

Skelly (5-2 on the morning line) will be reunited with jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. in the Ring the Bell, which drew a field of eight. Skelly is scheduled to break from post 4.

“Getting away from the gates,” Asmussen said, pinpointing Skelly’s recent struggles. “It was there before and now it’s come back.”

All 10 of Skelly’s Oaklawn’s victories have been at six furlongs and with Santana in the irons. Swift Ruler and champion Whitmore share the Oaklawn record for career stakes victories with seven.

Banishing (3-1) starred at the 2024-25 Oaklawn meeting for trainer David Jacobson, posting a 5: 3-2-0 record and earning $765,875.

Banishing opened with victories in a December allowance race and the inaugural $145,000 Byerley Turk Overnight Stakes, both at six furlongs, before capturing the Oaklawn Mile (G3) on March 29.

Banishing added victories in the Jeff Hall Memorial Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs July 20 at Ellis Park and the Charles Town Classic (G2) at 1 1/8 miles Aug. 22 at Charles Town. He exits a 12th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at six furlongs Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

“He’s doing great,” Jacobson said. “Starting over, like we did last year.”

The 2-1 program favorite is Roll On Big Joe for trainer Bob Hess Jr. Roll On Big Joe exits a 4 1/2-length victory in the six-fulrong Bet On Sunshine Stakes on Nov. 1 at Churchill Downs. Roll On Big Joe is cross-entered in Saturday’s $250,000 Holiday Cheer Stakes at Turfway Park.

Millionaire and multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Tejano Twist and the Jacobson-trained Durante also are entered in the Ring the Bell. Durante was an upset winner over Skelly in the six-furlong Aristides Stakes (G3) on May 31 at Churchill Downs.

“I have a strong entry,” Jacobson said.

Second I D, Ghost of Midnight and Spankster complete the projected field.