Pioneer Spirit gearing up for Oaklawn's Fifth Season Stakes

Pioneer Spirit’s owners are scheduled to have another chance to recoup money on their heavy investment in the $100,000 Fifth Season Stakes for older horses Jan. 25. The 1-mile Fifth Season is the first local steppingstone to the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) April 18.

On behalf of Arkansas-based Lucky Dog Stables, Heads Up Racing and a new client, Lawrence Roman, trainer Robertino Diodoro claimed Pioneer Spirit out of a Nov. 2 victory for $150,000. Pioneer Spirit’s first start for his new connections resulted in a head victory under David Cohen in the $75,000 Tenacious Stakes Dec. 21 at Fair Grounds. Diodoro was using the 1 mile 70-yard race, contested over a sloppy surface, as a prep for the Fifth Season.

“I don’t know if he really loved the track,” Diodoro, Oaklawn’s second-leading trainer the last three years, said Monday morning. “Obviously, he didn’t hate it, but I really don’t think it helped him a whole bunch. He’s trained back really well.”

The Oaklawn-based Pioneer Spirit returned to the work tab last Sunday, breezing a half-mile in :48.60. The Tenacious, Pioneer Spirit’s 11th victory in 28 lifetime starts, pushed his career earnings to $696,578.  A 7-year-old son of Malibu Moon, Pioneer Spirit finished third in last year’s Oaklawn Handicap for trainer Brad Cox. In addition to the Oaklawn Handicap, Pioneer Spirit won an allowance race and finished third in the inaugural $250,000 Oaklawn Mile in Hot Springs and captured the $100,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial Stakes July 13 at Indiana Grand.

Cohen, Oaklawn’s leading jockey in 2019, will ride Pioneer Spirit in the Fifth Season, his agent, Bill Castle, said Thursday morning. Locally based millionaire Snapper Sinclair is also pointing for the Fifth Season, owner Jeff Bloom said Wednesday morning. Snapper Sinclair is trained by Hall of Famer and perennial Oaklawn leader Steve Asmussen. Another locally based millionaire, Bravazo, is under consideration for the Fifth Season, his Hall of Fame trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, said Tuesday morning.