Top 3 from Razorback will face off again in Essex Handicap
Plainsman, winner of the Razorback Handicap (G3) on Feb. 12, will make his return Saturday at Oaklawn in the Grade 3, $500,000 Essex Handicap. Trained by Brad Cox, the 7-year-old Flatter horse will be ridden by Joel Rosario in the 1 1/16-mile race for older horses.
Plainsman was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the field of eight. The Essex, is one of two graded stakes this weekend, along with the Whitmore (G3), also at Oaklawn.
The horse narrowly won the Razorback, going the same distance as the Essex at Oaklawn, taking the lead a half-mile into the race and holding on to beat Thomas Shelby by a neck. The Razorback was his first race of the year, he finished third in the Cigar Mile (G1) at Aqueduct in December in his prior trip.
Plainsman won three stakes races in 2021, the Ack Ack (G3) at Churchill Downs, the Michael G. Schaefer Memorial at what was then Indiana Grand and the Jim Rasmussen at Prairie Meadows. He earned his first graded-stakes win in the Discovery (G3) at Aqueduct in 2018.
He will be ridden by Joel Rosario in the Essex and will break from the fourth post position.
Thomas Shelby, defeated by Plainsman in the Razorback, also returns for the Essex. Trained by Robertino Diodoro, the 6-year-old Curlin gelding has won 10 races in his career, but no stakes.
Before the Razorback, he finished third in the Fifth Season on Jan. 15 and second in the Tinsel on Dec. 18, both at Oaklawn. Thomas Shelby drew the rail for the Essex.
He will be ridden by David Cohen and was given 7-2 odds on the morning line, making him co-second choice.
Warrior’s Charge was also installed at 7-2 on the morning line. Another entry for trainer Brad Cox, the 6-year-old Munnings horse won his most recent start, an allowance on Jan. 28 at Oaklawn going 1 1/16 miles. Before that race, which was his 2022 debut, he finished fourth in the Tinsel on Dec. 18 at Oaklawn.
Warrior’s Charge drew the third post position for Saturday’s race.
The third-place finisher in the Razorback, Popular Kid, will also return for the Essex. The 8-year-old Popular horse is trained by Shawn Davis.
Before the Razorback, Popular Kid earned a stakes win in the Jeffrey A. Hawk Memorial at Remington Park in November. The victory was his first in a stakes race.
Popular Kid drew the fifth post slot for the Essex. He will be ridden by Oaklawn’s leading jockey, Francisco Arrieta, who has won 40 races so far this Oaklawn meet, good for a 16 percent winning percentage.
The Essex is scheduled as the ninth race Saturday at Oaklawn. The race is set to go off at 6:10 p.m. EDT, with first post scheduled for 2 p.m.