Whitmore Makes Early Oaklawn Entrance in King Cotton

If one Oaklawn Park-based horse had a routine the last two years, it was grade 1-winning sprinter and millionaire Whitmore for co-owner/trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs, Ark.

It was like clockwork. Whitmore would run in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) in November, receive a freshening for a few weeks in Kentucky, arrive at Oaklawn in January, hit the work tab in February, and resurface in the Hot Springs Stakes in early March.

That blueprint in 2018 and 2019 resulted in three victories—all stakes—in four starts, with the only blemish being a runner-up finish behind future Eclipse Award winner Mitole  in last year's $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older horses.

But when Whitmore makes his 2020 season debut, it won't be in the March 7 Hot Springs Stakes, a race he's won the last three years. Instead, Whitmore will make his 7-year-old debut in the $125,000 King Cotton Stakes for older sprinters Feb. 8 at Oaklawn.

"You don't have to train as hard every day and be so dependent on the weather, if you're super fit," Moquett said. "You can take a lot of lackadaisical days and not have to worry about scheduling works. We just figured it would probably be the best thing to give him a race and go from there."

The six-furlong King Cotton, the first of two major local preps for the April 11 Count Fleet Sprint, headlines Saturday's nine-race card.

Whitmore is a five-time Oaklawn stakes winner, also taking the Count Fleet in 2017 and 2018. His biggest career victory came in the 2018 Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

The 5-2 program favorite for the King Cotton, Whitmore will be ridden for the first time by Oaklawn newcomer Joe Talamo, based for so much of his career in California.

Whitmore concluded his racing seasons in 2017 and 2018 in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), finishing eighth and second, respectively. But after finishing third behind Mitole and Shancelot in the $2 million race Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park, Whitmore was wheeled back in the Dec. 7 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack. He finished seventh, beaten 12 3/4 lengths by eventual champion 3-year-old male Maximum Security. 

Moquett said he's drawing a line through that race because it "wasn't our kind of track" and "it was kind of a merry-go-round most of the day."

The Pleasantly Perfect gelding has had two published workouts in advance of the King Cotton—a half-mile in :47 3/5 Jan. 15 and 5 furlongs in 1:00 2/5 Feb. 2.

"If you were to bring him out now, you would think he's training better than he was when he was 4," said Moquett, who will be in Florida Saturday attending the wedding of his son, Chance. "The only thing that we can make all our decisions off of is what we see and what we see right now is a very happy horse that is loving the training. The only real question and concern that I have is trying to get a rider that understands him because he's not easy to ride."

If all goes well Saturday, Moquett said Bob LaPenta, Moquett's Southern Springs Stables, and Head of Plains Partners' Whitmore will again target the Hot Springs and Count Fleet. The gelding has won 12 of 31 starts overall and earned $2,821,350.

Also in the field is Share the Upside, who ran second to Whitmore in last year's Hot Springs for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Another contender, Wilbo won the 2018 King Cotton for Chris Hartman, Oaklawn's leading trainer in 2015.

Silver Ride exits a 1 1/4-length opening-day allowance optional claiming victory for trainer Robertino Diodoro, who had a meet-high 10 victories through Feb. 6. The Candy Ride  gelding has two victories and two thirds in his last four starts.

"He's doing good, that horse, right now," Diodoro said. "We've changed a couple of things with him on his training and that could be the answer to that horse just being a little better than what he has been."

Entries: King Cotton S.

Oaklawn Park, Saturday, February 08, 2020, Race 8

• STK
• 6f
• Dirt
• $125,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 4:38 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Share the Upside (ON)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	115	Steven M. Asmussen	3/1
2	2Hidden Ruler (KY)	Joseph Rocco, Jr.	115	John Alexander Ortiz	15/1
3	3Silver Ride (KY)	Orlando Mojica	115	Robertino Diodoro	6/1
4	4Whitmore (KY)	Joseph Talamo	115	Ron Moquett	5/2
5	5Nun the Less (KY)	Rodney A. Prescott	122	Cipriano Contreras	9/2
6	6Home Run Maker (KY)	David Cohen	115	Jeremiah C. Englehart	10/1
7	7Tringale (KY)	Martin Garcia	115	Christopher Davis	15/1
8	8Wilbo (KY)	Channing Hill	122	Chris A. Hartman	7/2