Oaklawn: Well-matched Razorback has Skinner, First Mission

Sunday's Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn drew an evenly matched field of 14 including Grade 3 winner Skinner for trainer Cherie DeVaux.

The Razorback, scheduled as the 10th race, is one of five stakes on Oaklawn’s 12-race Rebel card originally scheduled for Saturday but shifted to Sunday because of freezing weather. The first post is at 1 p.m. EST.

Skinner (6-1) makes his second start for DeVaux after being based in Southern California with trainer John Shirreffs. DeVaux said the Razorback is Skinner’s audition for the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles April 19.

“We just want to see where he fits, and if he likes the track, that would be our target for him,” she said.

Skinner, in his first start outside California, ran third in the $175,000 Louisiana Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds. Skinner was among the west coast’s top Kentucky Derby prospects in 2023. He was beaten by a half-length in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby (G1) and scored his first career stakes victory in the $100,000 Native Diver (G3) at 1 1/8 miles Nov. 23 at Del Mar.

“He’s doing really well,” DeVaux said. “Came out of his last race and trained forwardly. We didn’t have him all that long prior to his start. Hoping he puts in another good effort for us. His figures are kind of steady where they are, but I think there’s room for improvement as he matures, and he has matured.”

Millionaire multiple graded-stakes winner First Mission (5-1) tries to shake the rust of a nearly seven-month layoff for trainer Brad Cox. A 5-year-old Street Sense homebred for powerful Godolphin, he is unraced since finishing seventh in the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1) at 1 1/8 miles Aug. 3 at Saratoga.

“He just needed time off,” Cox said. “He was a flat horse. He just needed to go home and eat grass, and that’s what he did.”

First Mission returned to the work tab Dec. 8 at Fair Grounds and has nine more published breezes there. The last was a five-furlong move in 1:00.6 on Feb. 15. First Mission was a dominant winner of his only Oaklawn start, scoring by five lengths in the $600,000 Essex Handicap (G3) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles in March. In his next start he won the $750,000 Alysheba (G2) at 1 1/16 miles in May at Churchill Downs before being sent home after fizzling in the Whitney.

“He’s training really well,” Cox said. “Obviously he’s proven over the racetrack. I’m excited about getting him started.”

First Mission is one of four Oaklawn stakes winners entered in the Razorback. Millionaire multiple graded-stakes winner Red Route One (15-1) captured the $200,000 Bathhouse Row for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles in 2023 for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Seize the Night (20-1) won the $175,000 Tinsel for older horses at 1 1/8 miles Jan. 5 for trainer Eddie Milligan Jr.

Red Route One, in his last start, finished a non-threatening fourth in the Tinsel after falling 18 lengths behind through the opening half-mile.

“Too far back,” Asmussen said. “I think the term you’re looking for is equinely impossible to win from there.”

Banishing, who exits a powerful 7 1/2-length victory in the $145,000 Byerley Turk Overnight Stakes at six furlongs Jan. 23 at Oaklawn for co-owner/trainer David Jacobson, is the 7-2 program favorite for the Razorback.

Seize the Night looks to rebound from a seventh-place finish in the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes for older horses at one mile Jan. 25 at Oaklawn. Seize the Night drew post 14 for the Razorback.

“Fourteen hole is going to be a tough task for him,” said Milligan, who trains Seize the Night for Arkansan Kevin Horton of Willis Horton Racing. “Hopefully, he’s got enough speed to put himself in a good position away from there and not get hung too wide and see what happens after that.”

Seize the Night was a two-turn allowance winner in 2022 and 2023 at Oaklawn when with Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

“The effort was good,” Milligan said of the Fifth Season. “I think there were a few situations during that race that just didn’t let him actually show up like he normally does. Hopefully, he’ll be there this (Sunday).”

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher seeks his record-tying fifth Razorback victory with millionaire Grade 2 winner Crupi (6-1). In his last start he finished seventh in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at 1 1/8 miles Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.

Unbeaten Baddest Good Boy (9-2) is making his stakes debut for trainer Norm Casse.