Warrior's Charge faces tall task in full Oaklawn Handicap field
When Warrior's Charge won the Razorback Handicap (G3) in February at Oaklawn Park, the speedy 4-year-old immediately became the one to beat in his next target race: Saturday's Grade 2, $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap.
But since then, the competition in the rescheduled 1 1/8-mile race has ramped up as stakes schedules elsewhere were dashed by the coronavirus pandemic.
A Brad Cox-trained son of Munnings, Ten Strike Racing and Madaket Stable' Warrior's Charge remains prominent in a field of 14 entered Sunday, but he'll be facing a stronger cast of characters than first expected going third off a lengthy layoff.
Warrior's Charge made his 2020 debut in the 1 1/16-mile Razorback, winning wire-to-wire under jockey Florent Geroux. That was his fourth victory in his last five races -- the only loss being a fourth-place finish after attending to the pace in the 2019 Preakness Stakes.
But Warrior's Charge didn't get his shot at the rest of last year's top races for 3-year-olds due to a bout of colic. He returned a winner, however, going 1 1/16 miles off the bench in December at Fair Grounds to defeat the regally bred Gun It.
From post No. 6, Warrior's Charge will challenge a number of other graded winners in the Oaklawn Handicap, which goes as Race 12 of 14, between split divisions of the Arkansas Derby (G1), at 7:04 p.m. ET. Among the other high-profile Oaklawn Handicap entrants:
Mr Freeze has continued to get better with age. After winning Churchill Downs' Ack Ack (G3) last fall, he placed in the Fayette (G2) and Clark Stakes (G1) before re-emerging as a top threat in the Pegasus World Cup (G1). Only Mucho Gusto proved better that day as the Dale Romans trainee did the work on the pace. He came back to win the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) and will stretch out to the Pegasus' distance again in this spot.
By My Standards also has won four of his last five. Trained by Bret Calhoun, his lone loss in that time was an 11th-place finish in the 2019 Kentucky Derby, which followed a 3/4-length victory in the Louisiana Derby (G2). He took off the rest of 2019 before winning his 2020 debut, a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming race at Fairgrounds, by six lengths. That was followed by his most recent score, a three-length win in the New Orleans Classic (G2) on May 21.
Improbable won all three of his starts as a 2-year-old, but 2019 offered a mixed bag. The Bob Baffert-trained son of City Zip came in fourth as the betting favorite in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in the Preakness Stakes, with his lone win of the year coming in a four-horse listed stakes at Del Mar in August. In his only start this season, the Oaklawn Mile Stakes on April 11, he finished second to Tom's d'Etat. Still, Baffert considered it "a winning race," adding, "the horse that beat him is a good one."
Tacitus, winner of last year's Wood Memorial, was among the favorites for the Dubai World Cup (G1), which was slated for March 28 until its cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic. The son of Tapit made his 4-year-old debut off a five-month layoff in the inaugural Saudi Cup, where he finished fifth, defeated just 4 ¼ lengths in the most stacked dirt race of the 2020 season.
Additionally, Combatant upset the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) in his most-recent start, and Trophy Chaser enters off a victory in Tampa Bay Downs' Challenger Stakes (G3). Tax owns back class as the winner of last year's Jim Dandy (G2) after running in the Kentucky Derby.
Oaklawn Handicap
1. Chess Chief (Brian Hernandez Jr.)
2. Trophy Chaser (Samy Camacho Jr.)
3. Bravazo (Miguel Mena)
4. Mr Freeze (Joe Talamo)
5. Identifier (Stewart Elliott)
6. Warrior's Charge (Florent Geroux)
7. Combatant (Joel Rosario)
8. Sky Promise (Orlando Mojica)
9. Tacitus (John Velazquez)
10. Captivating Moon (Julien Leparoux)
11. Tax (Kendrick Carmouche)
12. By My Standards (Gabriel Saez)
13. Night Ops (Javier Castellano)
14. Improbable (Martin Garcia)