Consistency has Ten Strike Racing atop the Oaklawn Park owner's standings approaching the one-third point of the 2022-2023 meeting that began Dec. 9.
Through Jan. 29, Day 21 of the scheduled 68-day meeting, Ten Strike, which considers Oaklawn its home track, has eight victories from just 13 starters. Ten Strike won four races in December, including the final race of the month with its most noteworthy runner to date, unbeaten Eyeing Clover, and four races in January, again taking the final race of the month.
Ten Strike has already matched its single-season Oaklawn high for victories after winning eight races at the 2021-2022 meeting to tie for sixth in the standings. Ten Strike had 50 starters last season at Oaklawn.
"Not what we expected, to be at the top of the owner's standings, especially the way they count wins at Oaklawn," Ten Strike co-founding partner Clay Sanders said Jan. 31. "If you have a partnership, you don't get to count that. Probably a good percentage of our horses we own in partnership, so they won't even count."
Sanders and Marshall Gramm, an avid horseplayer and the other founding partner, launched Ten Strike in 2016. Ten Strike, which is based in Memphis, Tenn., offers fractional ownership in horses, from claimers to graded stakes performers. Ten Strike employs four trainers at Oaklawn—two-time Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox, Lindsay Schultz, Bentley Combs, and newcomer Matt Shirer. Ten Strike has already won races with all four at the 2022-2023 meeting.
Sanders said several factors have contributed to Ten Strike's rousing start. He noted Schultz and Combs are in their second season at Oaklawn and Shirer had a successful track record. Half of Ten Strike's eight victories have come from horses claimed at the 2022 Churchill Downs fall meeting.
Cox's victory for Ten Strike came with Eyeing Clover, who won his Dec. 31 career debut for 2-year-olds by 1 1/2 lengths in frontrunning fashion under Joe Talamo. Sanders said the promising Eyeing Clover (2 for 2) was unearthed by noted bloodstock agent Liz Crow, who is Ten Strike's racing manager. A son of champion Lookin At Lucky, Eyeing Clover was purchased for a modest $55,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Sanders said "around 40" people have a financial stake in Eyeing Clover, with interests ranging from 0.5-5%. Sanders said roughly half of Eyeing Clover's owners are from Arkansas, many of whom crammed into the Larry Snyder Winner's Circle following his popular victory.
Eyeing Clover returned to win a first-level allowance sprint by 9 3/4 lengths Jan. 28 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Sanders said Eyeing Clover will be considered for two major Kentucky Derby (G1) prep races—$1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 25 at Oaklawn and the $300,000 Gotham Stakes (G3) at a mile March 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Ten Strike was on the Triple Crown trail in 2019 with late-blooming Warrior's Charge , who was supplemented to the Preakness Stakes (G1), running fourth following powerful maiden special weight and entry-level allowance optional claiming victories at Oaklawn. Cox trained the millionaire Oaklawn stakes winner for Ten Strike and Madaket Stables. Warrior's Charge was retired last year and Ten Strike now stands as the 7-year-old son of Munnings at Irish Hill & Dutchess Views Stallions in New York.
Sanders said Ten Strike has 17 horses at Oaklawn, nine owned solely and eight others in outside partnerships. Shirer trains seven of the horses, Sanders said, with the other 10 split between Schultz (six), Combs (two), and Cox (two). Ten Strike also has another victory at the meeting in partnership, with Jeremy Sussman.
Arkansans, at least at the top, dominate Oaklawn's owner standings. Jerry Caroom of Hot Springs ranks second with six victories. John Holleman of Little Rock is third with five. Ten Strike has multiple leading owner titles at Parx Racing but is seeking its first at Oaklawn.
"I would say we won't go gangbusters yet," Sanders said. "If you just think about it, our win percentage is really high and that will probably even out with just luck, racing luck, and when your horses win, we'll have to jump a condition. You win a condition, you move up into a little tougher spot. We're still a little skeptical we'll be there at the end. But if we look up six to eight weeks and there's a shot—it's our home track and we're not going to be shy. We'll certainly try to give it our best. But that said, we typically try to claim a lot with partners, so we would have to tell our claiming partners that we need to claim some on our own."
Sanders and Gramm both reside in Memphis, Tenn. Sanders is a risk manager for First Horizon Bank. Gramm is an economics professor at Rhodes College.
Ten Strike has 42 career victories at Oaklawn, the first coming on Jan. 28, 2016, with Divine Thunder.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
