Finnick the Fierce Wins at Oaklawn Via Disqualification

Although Oaklawn Park lacked fans in attendance April 4, owing to COVID-19 safety restrictions, the racing there, particularly the eighth race for 3-year-old allowance runners, didn't lack drama.

The $61,000, 1 1/16-mile first-level dirt test, a potential prep for the May 2 Arkansas Derby (G1), proved a rough affair, resulting in the disqualification of its unofficial winner, Winning Impression, and his demotion to fifth by track stewards for interfering with favored Answer In down the stretch. That elevated Finnick the Fierce into first, though even he did not race without incident.

Attempting to rally up the inside under Martin Garcia, Finnick the Fierce was often blocked in traffic, and in midstretch he ran up on the heels of General Trev, who crossed the wire in third before being promoted to second.

It was Finnick the Fierce's first victory since a maiden race at Indiana Grand last summer, though he ran well at times in defeat. Perhaps his best race came when second in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs last fall, finishing between victorious Silver Prospector and third-place Tiz the Law, two leading prospects for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

That start, like Saturday's race, came on a sloppy track. This year, he was fourth in the Jan. 18 Lecomte Stakes (G3) and seventh in the second division of the Feb. 15 Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2), both on fast surfaces at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

Rey Hernandez trains Finnick the Fierce ($14.40), a gelded son of Dialed In , and co-owns him with Arnaldo Monge. The gelding is the lone winner from two foals to race from the Southern Image mare Southern Classic. He has two wins from six starts and $131,490 in earnings. He was bred in Kentucky by Paige Jillian Blu Sky Stables.

Finnick the Fierce was one of two starters with Kentucky Derby qualifying points. He has five, one fewer than Answer In, who was second in last year's Remington Springboard Mile Stakes and third in the Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn. On Saturday, Answer In was bet down to 1-2 odds, crossed the wire in fifth, and was moved up to fourth after the stewards' action.

He was steadied inside the final sixteenth by jockey Joe Talamo when Winning Impression drifted inward under Joe Rocco Jr., an incident that could have cost Answer In an opportunity for a better placing, though he appeared to be weakening. 

Winning Impression, who finished strongest down the lane, hit the wire a length in front of Finnick the Fierce, who was a neck ahead of General Trev. Winning Impression was timed in 1:45.60.