Martin Garcia prepares to resume riding at Oaklawn
Today’s Oaklawn Park media notes, with Kentucky horses and horsemen prominent (Coady Photography photo above of Martin Garcia):
HOT SPRINGS, AR (Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021) — Jockey Martin Garcia never really left, but his riding resurgence in 2020 abruptly ended when he fractured his collarbone in an Oct. 18 spill at Keeneland. Garcia got on horses for the first time since the accident Dec. 27 at Oaklawn, where he made a huge splash last year in his debut as a regular, tying for second in the standings with 53 victories.
“I’ve had 2 ½ months,” Garcia said. “I’m not 100 percent yet, but I will be. The bone doesn’t hurt, so I think that’s the main thing.”
Garcia, 36, has been working horses for trainers like Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, Brad Cox and Steve Hobby of Hot Springs in preparation for the 2021 Oaklawn meeting that is scheduled to begin Jan. 22. Once an A-lister in Southern California, breezing or riding many of Hall of Famer trainer Bob Baffert’s elite runners, Garcia relocated to the Midwest in late 2019 because of dwindling business on the West Coast.
Garcia finished his abbreviated 2020 season with 73 victories and $4,180,401 in purse earnings, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. The win total was Garcia’s highest since 2015. Garcia’s purse earnings were his highest since 2016.
“I had a great year,” Garcia said. “I rode a lot of nice horses. Besides riding good horses, I was winning. I was very happy.”
Garcia pushed perennial champion Ricardo Santana Jr. for the Oaklawn riding title, trailing 54-51 entering the final three days of the 57-day season. Garcia finished with 53 victories, after losing two wins via disqualifications, from 285 mounts and purse earnings of $2,472,702.
Joe Talamo, in his first season as an Oaklawn regular after previously being based in Southern California, also rode 53 winners.
Garcia had opened the 2020 Oaklawn meeting by winning the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds aboard Gold Street for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and added the $125,000 Spring Fever Stakes for older female sprinters about a month later aboard Midnight Fantasy for trainer Joe Sharp.
“I think it would be good if you win the title, but if you’re winning the big races like those, that’s where it counts,” Garcia said.
Martin Garcia guided Harvey’s Lil Goil to victory in Keeneland’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. A week later, the jockey fractured his elbow in a spill. Coady Photography
Garcia’s post-Oaklawn highlight was a three-quarter length victory aboard Harvey’s Lil Goil in the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1) Oct. 10 at Keeneland for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. After running 11th in the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) May 1 at Oaklawn, Harvey’s Lil Goil flourished in her return to turf.
In addition to the grassy QE II, Garcia also guided the daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to a head victory in the $100,000 Regret Stakes (G3) on the turf June 27 at Churchill Downs. Harvey’s Lil Goil finished third, beaten a neck, in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
After missing the Breeders’ Cup because of injury, Garcia will now try to build on his Oaklawn resume, which features 59 victories, including six stakes, since 2010.
“Just keep riding for, I hope,” everybody,” Garcia said. “I hope whoever gives me a chance, I’ll take advantage of it.”
A native of Mexico, Garcia has amassed 1,632 victories and $91,615,021 in purse earnings since launching his career in the United Stakes in 2005, according to Equibase. He won the 2010 Preakness aboard the Baffert-trained champion Lookin At Lucky and is a four-time Breeders’ Cup winner. All four of Garcia’s Breeders’ Cup victories (Drefong, Bayern, New Year’s Day and Secret Circle) have been for Baffert.
Devil in the House
Shedaresthedevil, among the country’s leading 3-year-old fillies of 2020, returned to Oaklawn around 4 a.m. (Central) Saturday, according to her co-owner, Staton Flurry of Hot Springs.
Shedaresthedevil, the eventual Kentucky Oaks winner, in the post parade before her victory in Oaklawn’s Grade 3 Honeybee. Coady Photography
Shedaresthedevil wintered last year at Oaklawn and won its $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) in March before going on to capture an allowance race at Churchill Downs, the $200,000 Indiana Oaks (G3) and the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs.
Following a third-place finish in her first start against older horses, the $400,000 Spinster Stakes (G1) Oct. 4 at Keeneland, Shedaresthedevil received a 60-day break, Flurry said, before resuming light training in mid-December in Kentucky. Trainer Brad Cox said the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) for older fillies and mares March 13 at Oaklawn is a possible first 2021 target for Shedaresthedevil.
“Glad to have her back on track and back here,” Flurry said. “She looks phenomenal. It seems like she enjoyed her time off and it did her well. She’s put on some weight and seems very bright eyed. Excited to see what 2021 holds in store for her, beginning with the Azeri.”
The Azeri is the final major local prep for the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 17. Cox said champion Monomoy Girl is pointing for the second race in the prep series, the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) Feb. 15, for her 2021 debut. Monomoy Girl is based at Fair Grounds.
Oaklawn’s first major Apple Blossom prep is the $150,000 Pippin Stakes Jan. 23. Nominations to the 1-mile event closed Thursday.
Finish Lines
Post positions for Oaklawn’s opening day of racing, Jan. 22, will be drawn Jan. 15. … Piece of My Heart worked 3 furlongs in :36.60 over a fast track Wednesday morning for trainer Mac Robertson. Piece of My Heart won the inaugural $80,000 Gardenia Stakes for 3-year-old fillies last May at Oaklawn. … Lucky Betty, who broke her maiden and was a first-level allowance winner last year at Oaklawn, will be going to trainer Reeve McGaughey, said Will VanMeter, who had trained the 4-year-old Munnings filly before announcing Nov. 18 that he was leaving the racetrack. Lucky Betty ran third in the $300,000 Edgewood Stakes (G2) Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs in her last start. McGaughey, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, recorded his first career training victory March 19, 2019, at Oaklawn. VanMeter, a former assistant to Hall of Fame trainerD. Wayne Lukas, recorded his first career training victory March 14, 2014, at Oaklawn. VanMeter ran 1-2 with Sekani and The Mary Rose in the $100,000 Rainbow Miss Stakes for 3-year-old Arkansas-bred fillies last year at Oaklawn. Both homebreds for John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs are now at Oaklawn with trainer Brad Cox.
