WinStar Farm and CHC's Fearless will put his moniker to the test April 17 when he faces down a well-respected field of graded stakes winners in the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) at Oaklawn Park.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, the 5-year-old gelded son of Ghostzapper has not been able to string together consecutive victories since winning his first two career starts in late 2019 and early 2020 at Gulfstream Park. That history could work in his favor on Saturday as he enters off his first graded win in the Feb. 27 WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes (G2) at the South Florida track.
Fearless will break from post 3 in the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap under Irad Ortiz Jr., who had the mount in the Gulfstream Park Mile.
"He's a very big horse and it just took a little while to kind of get things together," said Pletcher. "He had a pretty steady campaign last year. Decided to give him a little freshening over the fall. He's a gelding, so we were looking at the long picture. He's come back well from the layoff, and we're excited about giving him a try in here."
The Gulfstream Park Mile marked the first start for Fearless since he finished sixth in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) last June at Churchill Downs. The first two finishers, Tom's d'Etat and By My Standards , were exiting stakes victories at the 2020 Oaklawn meet—the Oaklawn Mile and Oaklawn Handicap, respectively. While Fearless was nominated to this year's renewal of the Oaklawn Mile, Pletcher said he opted to start the gelding in South Florida.
"We looked at it," Pletcher said. "We thought they were both compelling races. Felt like the mile and an eighth was probably a little better for him, even though he was successful last time at a one-turn mile. We felt like with that race under his belt, the extra eighth of a mile would help. Of course, a $1 million purse is very enticing."
Pletcher won the Oaklawn Handicap in 2007 with Lawyer Ron—who was awarded the title of champion older male that same year—and again in 2015 with Race Day.
Among Fearless' competition on Saturday will be a brace of runners from the barn of Brad Cox, who is currently third in the running for Oaklawn Park's leading trainer this year. Leaving from post 6 under jockey Florent Geroux will be Rupp Racing's Owendale, whose last victory came in May of 2020 in the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs. The son of Into Mischief most recently ran second in the March 20 New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
Leaving post 4 under Elvin Gonzalez is Owendale's stablemate Warrior's Charge . Owned by Ten Strike Racing and Madaket Stables, the Florida-bred son of Munnings enters off a second-place finish in a March 25 allowance race at Oaklawn over a mile on the dirt. The two-time graded stakes winner has historically performed well at the Arkansas track. In 2020 he won the Razorback Handicap (G3) and took second in the Oaklawn Handicap, missing by less than two lengths to By My Standards.
Oaklawn Park, Saturday, April 17, 2021, Race 9Entries: Oaklawn H. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Silver State (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 118 Steven M. Asmussen 4/1 2 2Express Train (KY) Juan J. Hernandez 122 John A. Shirreffs 5/2 3 3Fearless (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 119 Todd A. Pletcher 7/2 4 4Warrior's Charge (FL) Elvin Gonzalez 118 Brad H. Cox 6/1 5 5Guest Suite (KY) Francisco Arrieta 115 Cipriano Contreras 15/1 6 6Owendale (KY) Florent Geroux 119 Brad H. Cox 7/2 7 7Rated R Superstar (KY) Ramon A. Vazquez 116 Federico Villafranco 10/1 8 8Silver Prospector (KY) David Cabrera 116 Steven M. Asmussen 10/1
