Exotics plays for Saturday's Count Fleet Sprint H.

Ashley Anderson

April 14th, 2022

Champion male sprinter Jackie’s Warrior headlines a group of six at Oaklawn Park in Saturday’s $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint H. (G3), part of the Win Today, See You in May series, with a guaranteed spot in the Maryland Sprint S. on Preakness Stakes Day at Pimlico on the line.

Below we build a couple of exotics plays for Race 11 on Saturday’s card and provide full notes on the six-horse field.

Count Fleet H. Exotics Plays

  • $10 exacta: 5 with 6
  • $2.50 trifecta: 5, 6 with 5, 6 with 1, 3 ($10)

Count Fleet Sprint Handicap Contenders

#1 MOJO MAN (8-1): The James DiVito trainee hit a career-high 96 Brisnet Speed figure last out in a gate-to-wire six-furlong victory in an optional claiming race at Oaklawn on March 25. The bay gelding moves up in class on Saturday but will once again ride under Ricardo Santana Jr., who has won 50% of the time when pairing up with DiVito. While not a legitimate win contender, play the son of Stay Thirsty underneath for a potential third- or fourth-place finish in exotics wagers.

#2 CHIPOFFTHEOLDBLOCK (8-1): The five-year-old dark bay will make his sixth straight start at Oaklawn, where the gelding has notched an 8-1-3-1 lifetime record. Last out, the Michael Lauer pupil finished fourth to Mojo Man and hit a 91 Speed figure, the slowest last race speed rating on dirt among the field.

#3 LETSGETLUCKY (6-1): Moving up in class in his return to dirt, Letsgetlucky will make his first career start at Oaklawn on Saturday. The dark bay came home first in a six-furlong sprint on turf at Santa Anita last out on March 7, and hit a 92 BRIS Speed figure while finishing third at the same track in a black-type event two back. Trainer Brian Koriner is a 15% winner when shipping horses in for a race, while first-time rider Martin Garcia has won six and finished top three in eight of 18 races at Oaklawn in the last seven days.

#4 EMPIRE OF GOLD (6-1): Another runner making a move up in class, five-year-old Empire of Gold was last seen racing at Remington Park in October, when he beat next-out winner Mr Money Bags by 1 1/2 lengths in an allowance race for three-year-olds and up. His 92 Speed figure is tied with Letsgetlucky for the second slowest last race speed rating on dirt in Saturday's field. Another concern for the son of Goldencents is trainer Terry Eoff's record with fresh runners — in the past three years, the conditioner has yet to win in 74 starts at Oaklawn with horses coming off a lengthy layoff.

#5 JACKIE'S WARRIOR (6-5): The morning line favorite will make his first start as a four-year-old for trainer Steve Asmussen, who has guided the Eclipse Award-winning sprinter to a 3-2-0-0 record at today's distance. The bay colt hit a career-best 107 Speed figure two back, in the Gallant Bob S. (G2) at Parx last September, but faltered to a sixth-place finish in his most recent outing, the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar in November. Asmussen is a 25% winner when adding Lasix for the first time, so Jackie's Warrior is due for a bounce-back effort and will stay with regular rider Joel Rosario, a 21% winner at Oaklawn this meet.

#6 BOB'S EDGE (2-1): The rival best-equipped to upset Jackie's Warrior is Bob's Edge, a three-time winner at Oaklawn who has never finished out of the money in six career tries at the track. Conditioner Larry Jones is a 19% winner at Oaklawn this meet and a 21% graded stakes winner. Jockey Luis Quinonez will retain the mount for the third straight start after winning his last two rides with Bob's Edge at this track and distance. Last out, on March 19, Bob's Edge hit a 102 Speed figure, the highest last race speed rating among the field, and clocked a 103 Late Pace to beat Tulane Tryst by a length in the Whitmore S. (G3).

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