Oaklawn-loving Sonneteer returns in Razorback

Keith Desormeaux had a horse for the course in his barn all that time.

Consider it a lesson learned for the California-based trainer, whose Sonneteer feels cozy at Oaklawn Park.

The 4-year-olds's 2-for-18 career record might be unsightly, but his Oaklawn record can withstand close scrutiny. Second (at 112-1 odds) in last year's Grade 2 Rebel and fourth (12-1) in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, Calumet Farm has the last-out winner of Oaklawn's $125,000 Fifth Season and, at 4-1, a lukewarm favorite in today's Grade 3 $500,000 Razorback Handicap.

"If I would have known earlier that he had such an extreme affinity for Oaklawn, I wouldn't have run him elsewhere so often," Desormeaux said. "I would have just waited for Oaklawn. With his record there, you would think that consistency would continue."

Sixteenth in the 2017 Kentucky Derby, for which he qualified with points in two Oaklawn preps, Sonneteer needed another two races to notch his maiden victory. That came on the turf at Del Mar, followed by a third in the first Super Derby on grass at Louisiana Downs. The son of champion sprinter Midnight Lute may have a future on dirt, running a close third at Los Alamitos before winning the Fifth Season by three quarters at 29-1 odds Jan. 12.

Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, the trainer's brother, reclaims the mount on Sonneteer -- ridden by C.J. McMahon last out and by Richard Eramia in the Rebel. He drew post six in the 11-horse Razorback, which like the Fifth Season is a mile and sixteenth. Sonneteer is weighted at 116, one pound less than Untrapped, whom he nosed out for second in the Rebel and outfinished in the Arkansas Derby.

"His style, it doesn't matter. One through 12, who cares," said Keith Desormeaux. "He drops back and makes one run, so I don't think the post is of any consequence."

Untrapped, owned by Jonesboro's Mike Langford, has similar stats and more earnings than Sonneteer but has only a Rebel third from three Oaklawn races. A November 2016 Churchill Downs maiden winner, the Trappe Shot colt lost in seven consecutive stakes last year (12th in Kentucky Derby) before winning the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby in September at Remington Park. Oklahoma Derby runner-up Battle of Midway came back to win the Grade 1 $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in early November at Del Mar.

Second in the $200,000 Zia Park Derby Nov. 22 and fourth in the Fifth Season, Untrapped wears blinkers today for the first time since sixth in the Arkansas Derby. Breaking from the rail post, Ricardo Santana Jr. keeps the mount for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who won the first February running of the Razorback in 2017 with future Horse of the Year Gun Runner.

"I thought he dropped the bridle in his last couple of races, in the middle of it," said trainer Steve Asmussen. "We need to get him back to the race that beat Battle of Midway."

Completing the Razorback field are two-time Oaklawn stakes winner Far Right, Gary Stevens, 12-1; Hawaakom, Corey Lanerie, 10-1; J Boys Echo, Robby Albarado, 5-1; Leofric, Luis Saez, 9-2; Shotgun Kowboy, Luis Quinonez, 15-1; Rated R Superstar, Channing Hill, 12-1; Rocking the Boat, Fernando De La Cruz, 20-1; Futile, Luis Quinonez, 6-1; and The Lieutenant, Drayden Van Dyke, 15-1.

Leofric, 4 for 4 at Oaklawn, makes his local stakes debut for leading trainer Brad Cox. Futile has two Oaklawn seconds, the Fifth Season included, since claimed by trainer Chris Hartman for $32,000 in November at Churchill Downs. Hawaakom, trained by Wesley Hawley, finished a distant second to Gun Runner in last year's Razorback, the winner's 4-year-old debut. Far Right ran third in this year's Fifth Season for trainer Wayne Catalano.

Sports on 02/19/2018

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