Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, though more often seen in other racing-friendly locations, has a section devoted to Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.
The Texas native, whose father, J.J. Pletcher, trained locally here decades past, is marked present at a number of tracks. His record five Arkansas Derby victories include back-to-back triumphs with Graeme Hall and Balto Star in 2010-11 and Overanalyze and Dansa in 2013-14. Magnum Moon won the 2018 Derby before a nightmarish first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.
A former Wayne Lukas aide, Pletcher has the same winning touch with fillies, as evidenced by Nest's championship season last year and 2021 Eclipse Award winner Malathaat's Breeders' Cup triumph. Let not anyone forget the trainer's first of three Belmont Stakes victories (2007) came with the filly Rags to Riches.
That Pletcher is stepping up in class with Gambling Girl is one early take from today's Grade 3 $300,000 Honeybee at Oaklawn, a 12-horse prep for the Grade 3 Fantasy in April. That he ships a stakes winner at 2 against fellow New York-bred fillies to Arkansas is another -- especially in that the Honeybee produced two of the last three Kentucky Oaks winners (Secret Oath last year for Lukas and Shedaresthedevil in 2020 for Brad Cox).
Hot Springs is a road less traveled by Gambling Girl owner Mike Repole, a billionaire through sports drinks he sold to Coca-Cola. A 54-year-old Queens native, Repole owned champion Uncle Mo, rapidly becoming a supersire; last year's Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal and 2019 Breeders' Cup winner Vino Rosso.
Gambling Girl, by Dialed In, a $200,000 Saratoga yearling purchase, won the Joseph A. Gimma last fall at Aqueduct. Here making her first start outside New York State, she breaks from post four under Irad Ortiz Jr., who has won both times aboard the filly. Galloping over the deep Palm Beach Downs surface in Florida, Pletcher's winter base, should relieve any kinks from a layoff since Jan. 14. That she might get a third straight "off" track is not out of the question.
Waiting at Oaklawn are local stakes winners Wet Paint for Brad Cox and Defining Purpose for Ken McPeek, Godolphin's Wet Paint came from off the pace in the Jan. 28 Martha Washington at the Honeybee's mile-and-sixteenth distance. Defining Purpose won the one-mile Year's End Dec. 31 before faltering late in the Martha Washington over a wet track.
Olivia Twist was 2-1 in the Martha Washington and led down the backstretch before she slowed turning for home. Trainer Todd Fincher's filly won a stake and two other races at Remington Park before that. Although not the fastest worker, it's encouraging that she has breezed twice since the last race and keeps leading rider Cristian Torres aboard.
Randy Morse counters with Taxed, whom he claimed for $50,000 Nov. 20 and watched finish two lengths back in the Martha Washington. Rafael Bejarano, quietly having a big local season, has an early challenge from the No. 12 post aboard Collected's daughter. Others include meet winners Effortlesslyelgant, Ricardo Santana Jr. riding from the rail for trainer Norm Casse; Towhead and Condensation.
Seven Honeybee starters go off Lasix to conform to Kentucky Oaks qualifying standards. A Triple Crown-eligible Honeybee winner collects 50 points for the May 5 classic at Churchill Downs. Race 10 of 12, the Honeybee is set for 4:43 p.m.