The $150,000 Ring The Bell Stakes, for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs, has attracted a field of nine for Oaklawn Park's Dec. 9 program. Grade 3 winner Tejano Twist should attract most of the public's betting support. The Chris Hartman-trained 4-year-old is coming off a sharp win in the Bet on Sunshine Stakes Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs and shoots for his fourth victory of 2023 and ninth win overall.
Owned by JD Thoroughbreds and Joey Keith Davis, the Kentucky-bred Tejano Twist has shown a strong affinity for this strip. The Practical Joke gelding won an optional claimer to start the year here at Oaklawn. He then followed up that effort with a second-place finish in the King Cotton Stakes Jan. 28, topped off by a 1 1/2-length victory in the Whitmore Stakes (G3) March 18. Jockey Chris Landeros is back aboard.
The gelding's biggest threat is likely Corinne and William Heiligbrodt's Ryvit. The Competitive Edge colt comes off a career-best 108 Equibase Speed Figure after winning the Steel Valley Sprint Stakes at Mahoning Valley Race Course Nov. 20.
The Steve Asmussen-trained 3-year-old is 3-for-4 at Oaklawn and 5-for-7 at today's scheduled six furlongs. Jockey Keith Asmussen rides back for his father and is 4-for-4 when piloting the grade 3 winner.
A potential longshot threat is the John Ortiz-trained Top Gunner who is 3-2-0 from six tries at Oaklawn and looks like the field's potential front-runner coming out of the Phoenix Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.
Lovely Ride Shoots for Mistletoe Repeat
The $150,000 Mistletoe Stakes, scheduled as race 9 on the Saturday card, drew a competitive field of 11 3-year-olds and up going the one-mile distance.
The Candy Ride mare Lovely Ride will look for a repeat after taking last year's sloppy track edition when returning off a four-month layoff. The John Holleman, Flying P Stable, and Larry Nafe-owned 5-year-old mare will attempt a similar feat this year returning off a six-month freshening for conditioner Sean Williams. Williams is replacing trainer Robertino Diodoro who is currently serving a 15-day suspension to start the meet. When last seen back on May 29 at Lone Star Park, Lovely Ride finished a well-beaten fifth in the Ouija Board Distaff Stakes on turf.
The Allied Racing Stable-bred mare is 7-4-1 from 19 starts and is the field's top money earner at $575,238.
Some other noteworthy contenders include the Michael Maker-trained Misty Veil, who gets some class relief while dropping out of consecutive grade 3 events. This former bottom-level claimer, now graded stakes-placed, had success over this racetrack last spring.
HWL Partnership's Coastal Charm, trained by Steve Hobby, has won four of seven starts this year and won the one-mile Dig A Diamond Stakes when last seen here April 29. The Gary and Mary West-bred Ghostzapper filly returns off a 3 1/2-month freshening and is proven off the bench.
The Norm Casse trainee Effortlesslyelgant stretches back out after a fourth-place finish as the favorite in an allowance optional claiming try at Churchill Downs Nov. 8. The Liam's Map 3-year-old filly, bred by Offshoot Farm, is eligible to bounce back in this spot having taken a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claimer at Oaklawn March 19. She was hardly disgraced in the Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland the following race when flashing good speed before tiring to fifth.
Oaklawn Park, Saturday, December 9, 2023, Race 6Entries: Ring The Bell S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Osbourne (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 124 Ron Moquett 5/1 2 2Manuelito (IN) Walter De La Cruz 121 John Haran 20/1 3 3Ultimate (KY) Ramsey Zimmerman 124 Timothy E. Martin 12/1 4 4Top Gunner (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 121 John Alexander Ortiz 15/1 5 5Necker Island (KY) Cristian A. Torres 124 Chris A. Hartman 8/1 6 6Tejano Twist (KY) Chris Landeros 124 Chris A. Hartman 8/5 7 7Ryvit (KY) Keith J. Asmussen 122 Steven M. Asmussen 2/1 8 8Caddo River (KY) Rafael Bejarano 124 D. Wayne Lukas 20/1 9 9Sir Wellington (LA) Eduardo Gallardo 124 McLean Robertson 12/1
Oaklawn Park, Saturday, December 9, 2023, Race 9Entries: Mistletoe S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Big Bad Diva (KY) Ramsey Zimmerman 117 Timothy E. Martin 20/1 2 2Misty Veil (KY) Isaac Castillo 117 Michael J. Maker 9/2 3 3Charlize (KY) Chris Landeros 115 John Henry Prather, Jr. 30/1 4 4Lovely Ride (KY) Cristian A. Torres 124 Sean Williams 4/1 5 5Saddle Up Jessie (KY) Francisco Arrieta 117 Brittany T. Russell 6/1 6 6Coastal Charm (KY) Martin Garcia 124 Steve Hobby 9/2 7 7Effortlesslyelgant (KY) Rafael Bejarano 122 Norm W. Casse 12/1 8 8Charlee Mae (KY) Luis A. Fuentes 117 Ronnie E. Cravens, III 20/1 9 9Adaline Julia (KY) Ramon A. Vazquez 124 Sean Williams 6/1 10 10Ice Orchid (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 124 John Alexander Ortiz 7/2 11 11Butterbean (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 121 Kenneth G. McPeek 20/1
