It's Purse Over Points in Oaklawn's Southwest

In a quirk of the Triple Crown trail, the Southwest Stakes offers more purse money than the other two Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) preps this holiday weekend yet it occupies a secondary position towards racking up qualifying points for a start in the May 2 classic.

While the Feb. 15 Risen Star Presented by Lamarque Ford (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots offers a total of 85 points and $400,000 in each of its two divisions, a field of nine in the 1 1/16-mile Southwest will divide a mere 17 points among the top four finishers toward a start in the opening leg of the Triple Crown—albeit there will be a glittering $750,000 purse up for grabs in the Feb. 17 stakes for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn Park.

All of that cash in the Southwest serves as a rather nice consolation prize for the victor in a race that could put some on the path to even more lucrative Oaklawn preps such as the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) March 14 and the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 11.

It also makes the Southwest a highly interesting spot for a 3-year-old debut by a horse like Answer In.

A Dialed In  gelding, Answer In displayed considerable promise for owners Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables and trainer Brad Cox in his 2-year-old finale, finishing a head back in second to Southwest starter Shoplifted in the Dec. 15 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes at Remington Park.

Since then, he's been working smartly for his 2020 campaign, which will involve richer and tougher tests on the road to Louisville on the first Saturday in May.

"(The Springboard Mile) was a good effort around two turns but he'll need to improve stepping up in company. He got beat by a very nice horse but I think we'll get a deeper field now," Cox said. "This gelding has improved in every start. We thought we'd point for this and take a swing at a big purse. He's training forwardly and I like the way he's coming into it."

With Javier Castellano along for the ride, Answer In will break from post 9. The gelding has a win and two seconds in three career starts.

Out of the Broken Vow  mare D'yaknowwhatimean, he sold for $175,000 to Whitehorse Stable from the Gainesway consignment at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Cheyenne Stables, LNJ Foxwoods, and Grandview Equine's Shoplifted has already raced at 3, finishing third over a muddy tack in the Jan. 24 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn. The son of Into Mischief  trained by Steve Asmussen has won two of six starts and was second in the Runhappy Hopeful Stakes (G1) in his second career effort.

Shoplifted will be ridden by Brian J. Hernandez from post 3.

Asmussen also trains Smarty Jones winner Gold Street, who cruised to an impressive 2 3/4-length victory in the slop at a one-mile distance. A son of Street Boss , Gold Street will break from post 4 while bidding for a fourth straight victory.

Asmussen's third starter also has a stakes win to his credit. Ed and Susie Orr's Silver Prospector won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) on a sloppy track in his 2-year-old finale, but could do no better than fourth in the Smarty Jones, 7 1/2 lengths behind his victorious stablemate.

Other veterans of stakes company include St. Elias Stable's Chase Tracker, who makes his 3-year-old debut for trainer Todd Pletcher after third-place finishes at 2 in the Remsen Stakes (G2) and Nashua Stakes (G3), and Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran's Taishan, who ships in from California after placing fourth in the Jan. 4 Sham Stakes (G3).

Reflective of the promise entailed in any Kentucky Derby prep, there's Villainous, who will make his stakes debut after waking up in his second start and taking a Jan. 24 maiden race at Oaklawn by 1 1/4 lengths on a muddy track. The son of Wicked Strong  trained by Jeremiah Englehart was a dull eighth in his Dec. 7 debut at Aqueduct Racetrack in a six-furlong sprint.

"He seems like a horse that will get better and better with seasoning and distance and you have to give them a shot every now and then," Englehart said. "I have no problem doing that."

Owned by Harold Lerner, AWC Stables, Nehoc Stables, Scott Aikman and Paul Braverman, Villainous caught Englehart's eye at The July Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in Kentucky, where he was purchased for $100,000 from the Rosilyn Polan consignment under the Webb Carroll Training Center banner in 2018.

"When Travis Durr and I bought him, we really liked his physical make up. He was a really pretty horse," Englehart said. "When we started to get him ready in the summer and fall, he didn't do much to impress us. He was green, lazy. But when I went out to Oaklawn and saw him work, it looked like he woke up a little bit. We worked him with Three Technique (second in the Smarty Jones) and he hung in there with him, which is want you want to see. I'm happy with him but his best races might be a few starts away. He's definitely a distance horse and seems more focused now than he had been."