Southwest Stakes rescheduled for Sunday
February 17, 2015The Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest Stakes will be run Sunday, said David Longinotti, director of racing for Oaklawn Park. The Southwest had been scheduled for Monday but was canceled due to a winter storm system that landed in Arkansas.
Oaklawn was unable to train Tuesday due to a second overnight freeze. The loss of two consecutive dates of training led officials to push the Southwest from a potential Saturday date to Sunday. “The plan right now is to hopefully get the horses on the track tomorrow, then be able to run the Southwest on Sunday,” Longinotti said Tuesday.
Entries for the Southwest will be taken Thursday. The race is open to all original nominees. The Southwest is the first major prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds originally drew a field of 12, but J S Bach and War Story have since been entered back in the Risen Star Stakes, to be run at Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Saturday.
The Southwest Stakes awards its first four finishers a total of 17 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, with 10 set aside for the winner. The morning-line favorite for the original Southwest field was Far Right, last month’s Smarty Jones Stakes winner for trainer Ron Moquett. It was 25 degrees in Hot Springs, Ark., as of 8 a.m. Tuesday. There were widespread school cancellations throughout the state Tuesday.