Oaklawn: Razorback features 4-year-old debut of Magnitude

For the second time in less than a decade, an untimely roadblock has steered a Middle East-bound horse for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and owner Winchell Thoroughbreds to Oaklawn for the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap.

Gun Runner, the sequel?

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That question, unexpected a month ago, will begin to be answered Saturday at Oaklawn when millionaire multiple Grade 2 winner Magnitude launches his delayed 4-year-old campaign in the Razorback for older horses at 1 1/16 miles.

The Razorback headlines an 11-race card that begins at 1:20 p.m. EST. Probable post time for the Razorback, the 10th race, is 6 p.m. EST. Weather permitting, the infield will be open for the first time this season.

Program favorite Magnitude hasn’t started since beating older horses in the Clark Stakes (G2) at 1 1/8 miles Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs. He was scheduled to make his 4-year-old debut in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) on Feb. 14, but he didn’t make the trip to Saudi Arabia because of a minor illness. Rerouted to Oaklawn, Asmussen is using the Razorback as a prep for the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) on March 28 in the United Arab Emirates.

“It’s Plan B,” Asmussen said Thursday morning. “We had planned on going to the Saudi Cup. He got a temperature right before he was scheduled to fly over there. Obviously, treated him and he got over it. Two solid works since and we’re excited to get his year started.”

Magnitude’s appearance in the Razorback will come almost exactly nine years after Gun Runner opened his 4-year-old campaign with a dazzling 5 3/4-length victory in the race.

The Razorback was also Plan B for Gun Runner, who won the Clark in his final start at 3 and had been scheduled to make his 2017 debut in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park. Gun Runner missed that race, his scheduled prep for the Dubai World Cup, because he was stuck at Fair Grounds following an outbreak of equine herpesvirus.

Gun Runner finished second in the Dubai World Cup, his only loss in what would be a 2017 Horse of the Year campaign.

Cue the Razorback – again.

“Pleased with how Gun Runner started his 4-year-old year off after winning the Clark, his previous race, and he had a detour, also,” Asmussen said, when asked what made the Razorback a good fit for Magnitude. “He was not allowed to run in the Pegasus that year because of the quarantine at the Fair Grounds. It (the Razorback) started his year off fantastically.”

The speedy Nu What’s New will be making his stakes debut for trainer Jimmy DiVito after winning his two starts this season at Oaklawn by a combined 20 front-running lengths. Nu What’s New broke his maiden by 7 1/2 lengths in one of the fastest mile races in Oaklawn history (1:35.52) on Dec. 26. Nu What’s New returned to win an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles by 12 1/2 lengths Feb. 5.

Sandman is seeking his first victory since the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) last March at Oaklawn for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.

Sandman exits an even fifth in a slow-placed 1 1/16-mile allowance Feb. 7 at Oaklawn. Bottled up on the second turn and upper stretch, Sandman lacked punch late and was beaten 2 1/4 lengths in his 4-year-old debut and first start against older horses. It was his fifth consecutive loss.

Casse said the presence of Nu What’s New and Magnitude, a front-running blowout winner of the Risen Star Stakes (G2) and Iowa Derby last year, could give late-running Sandman a better pace setup Saturday.

Sandman is reunited with Torres, who guided the gray Tapit colt to a one-mile allowance victory in December 2024 at Oaklawn. Torres is a two-time Oaklawn riding champion and has regularly worked Sandman the last two seasons in Hot Springs.

“He cut got cut up (inside right front) in his last race,” Casse said of Sandman. It took him a little while to get over it. We had to treat him four or five days after the race. That’s the bad news. The good news is he’s done very well since. He’s a happy horse. It looks like the pace will be legit. We’ll see. I like the post. Cristian knows him well. We’re going to just let him settle and, hopefully, try to come with a run and when we do, kind of see if he can keep him out of trouble.”

The Razorback is a major local prep for the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) at 1 1/8 miles April 18.