Somewhere in the distance, on a day that Oaklawn Park honored members of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, one could hear "The Eyes of Texas."
Or perhaps its companion piece, "Texas Fight," played with fanfare by cowbell-ringing members of the Longhorn Band.
Whatever the selection, if in a game involving Arkansas, as the late Frank Broyles was apt to say, "you knew something bad had happened to the Razorbacks."
Nothing calamitous happened Saturday at Oaklawn unless, as a Razorback fan, you detest the idea of two University of Texas graduates, husband and wife, owning the feature-race winner.
Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt have raced fast horses for years, many trained by fellow Texan Steve Asmussen. The Houston couple has another in Mia Mischief, a runaway winner of the $150,000 Purple Martin on a spring-break Saturday too gorgeous for words.
One of Into Mischief's four daughters among eight 3-year-old fillies entered, Mia Mischief sat off a fast pace and responded on cue when jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. asked for more near the head of the stretch. She pulled away for her first stakes victory in six career starts following seconds in Oaklawn's $125,000 Dixie Belle Jan. 20 and Churchill Downs' $200,000 Spendthrift Juvenile Filly Station last October.
Tracking the pace represented a new dimension for Mia Mischief after showing need-the-lead tendencies. She got home in a stakes-record 1:09.65, paying $3.20 to win as the odds-on favorite, with New Orleans shipper Salt Bae second for Bernie Flint and last-out Oaklawn winner Criminal Mischief third for Hall of Famer Wayne Lukas.
"I'm sure everybody expected us to be the pace," said Asmussen assistant Darren Fleming, "but Ricardo changed it around and she relaxed nice behind them and came and got them."
Jockey Santana helped Asmussen remain the only Purple Martin-winning trainer but this time was on the right side of the outcome. Last year, Santana and Our Majesty crossed the finish line first in the race's inaugural running although later disqualified with Golden Mischief (Luis Contreras up) declared the winner.
"Like I told you last time, she was a little tired last time she ran here (the Dixie Belle, won by Amy's Challenge, representing her first race in almost two months," Santana said. "We have a lot of confidence in her. I knew she was going to be pretty fit For this race. ... and we had a perfect trip. We turned for home and she came home pretty good. She was much the best today."
Ramon Vazquez, aboard maiden winner Salt Bae, said Santana and Mia Mischief "passed me like nothing. I thought I had a lot of horse underneath me and I guess he had way more than I did."
Stakes winner Buy Sell Hold, also trained by racing Hall of Famer Asmussen, placed fifth. Turbo Shaft, a last-out Oaklawn winner for James DiVito, completed the chalky superfecta ($15.15 for a dime) while Clay's Dialing In, Vision of Justice and Msbrooklynbrawler brought up the rear.
* Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame honorees Steve Cox, U.S. Reed, Dennis Winston, Quinn Grovey, Brison Manor, Oliver Elders, Bruce James and Bill Montgomery took turns presenting trophies before an announced crowd of 20,500. All played for the Razorbacks save Elders, who coached future Razorback basketball legend Sidney Moncrief at Little Rock Hall High School.
* The prospect of a late daily double-sweep by Into Mischief products fell through when Bad Student ($23.40) outlegged Oaklawn winner Bold Prophet in the 10th race. David Cohen completed a riding double on the 7-year-old winner, a two-time meet winner by Student Council and making his first start for Robertino Diodoro after a $30,000 claim off David Vance Feb. 24.
* Brad Cox, trying to catch Asmussen and Diodoro after leading the Oaklawn standings in the first half of the season, trains both Bold Prophet, owned by central Arkansas automobile dealer Steve Landers, and second-race runner-up All the Things. The latter went off favored Saturday in her career debut for Hot Springs owners and breeders Joel and Ali Rush. Early Flyer, a son of champion Gilded Time who stands for $2,500 in Texas, sired 3-year-old filly All the Things, who could not hold off 4-year-old Sassy Olivia Ann ($10) in the stretch. Though disappointed in defeat, Joel Rush noted the winning six-furlong time, 1:12.76, as above the norm for Arkansas-bred youngsters.
Sports on 03/25/2018