Unbeaten Colts Dash Attack, Newgrange Meet in Southwest

Two unbeaten colts, Dash Attack  and Newgrange , are among 12 3-year-olds that clash in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3), Oaklawn Park's next Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race Jan. 29. Both are victorious in two starts and making their first start as far as 1 1/16 miles.

Catalyst Stable, Magdalena Racing, Kevin Pollard, and Patty Slevin's Dash Attack won the local Jan. 1 Smarty Jones Stakes at a mile in the slop. After a tardy beginning, the 3-year-old Munnings   colt rallied from seventh and carried on to a two-length win. He is one of seven horses coming back to the Southwest from the 13-horse Smarty Jones.

"In a big field like that, no you don't really expect (to win)," trainer Kenny McPeek said of the Smarty Jones. "He overcame some adversity and was very professional. It's been fun to watch and hopefully he's got another few races in him where we can see more of him, or even a better version of him."

Video: Smarty Jones S. (BT)

Dash Attack's Smarty Jones victory followed a successful Dec. 5 debut, a mile maiden race on a good, sealed track at Oaklawn, in which he powered from mid-pack for a 1 1/4-length win. 

"Typically we don't press them first time out but he did that on raw talent," McPeek said. "And that second race, he obviously figured it out and I think now this is a big step up. The next couple starts are going to be real interesting. It's exciting."

Dash Attack tuned up for the Southwest with a five-furlong move in 1:01 2/5 Jan. 24 at Oaklawn, which McPeek called a "maintenance" breeze.

The colt was bred in Kentucky by Catalyst Stable and the McPeeks' Magdalena Racing from the Hard Spun   mareCerce Cay , a winner trained by McPeek.

"It's been great. The fact that we raised him is an added bonus but he's just a really nice colt doing everything right," McPeek said.

Dash Attack will have David Cohen, aboard for both the colt's previous starts, back in the irons as he breaks from post 2.

Newgrange, a sophomore son of Violence  , ships to Hot Springs, Ark., off a front-running score in the Jan. 1 Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park for Hall trainer Bob Baffert. Able to set an easy pace, he drew away to win by 2 3/4 lengths in the one-mile Sham, a race that followed a 1 1/2-length victory in a six-furlong maiden race Nov. 28 at Del Mar.

Video: Sham S. (G3)

In preparation for the Southwest, Newgrange turned in a half-mile work in :47 1/5 Jan. 23 at Santa Anita, the second-fastest of 114 at the distance on the morning.

The colt is campaigned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Golconda Stable, and Siena Farm. He was bred in Kentucky by Jack Mandato and Black Rock Thoroughbreds out of the Empire Maker  mare Bella Chianti  and was a $125,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase by SF/Starlight/Madaket, with Donato Lanni as agent, when offered by Brookdale Sales.

John Velazquez will remain aboard Newgrange for the third straight race Saturday from post 10, with opposing speed horses drawn to his inside and outside.

WSS Racing's Barber Road  will also look to take a piece of the Southwest after finishing second in the Smarty Jones. Trained by John Ortiz, the Race Day  colt raced in mid-pack and overcame some traffic trouble to secure the place. That followed a half-length defeat after he stalked the pace in the Nov. 27 Lively Shively Stakes at Churchill Downs, that race being only at 6 1/2 furlongs.

"I thought that race in the Smarty Jones was a very good education for him where this time he wasn't so close to the front end," Ortiz said. "He had a lot more dirt in his face—not even dirt, it was mud and sloppy stuff. I think he had a pretty good education splitting horses. What I was more impressed about was his gallop out, where he continued galloping out and he did pass Dash Attack a sixteenth (of a mile) later, which is going to be the distance we're running now."

Barber Road broke his maiden at second asking going 1 1/16 miles in a maiden claimer at Keeneland Oct. 14. He then shortened up to 6 1/2 furlongs to win a starter allowance by 6 1/4 lengths at Nov. 10 at Churchill Downs before trying stakes company.

In his last work Jan. 20 at Oaklawn, Barber Road breezed five furlongs in 1:01.

"He's coming into this race in perfect condition—nonstop, perfect training in the morning," Ortiz said. "He's been way more forward since his last start and he does feel like he's up for the challenge."

Trainer Steve Asmussen has two entered in the Southwest—Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred Costa Terra  and L and N Racing and Winchell's Classic Moment —making their sophomore debuts. Costa Terra, by Gun Runner  , has not run since rallying from 12th to finish fifth in the Oct. 9 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland. Classic Moment, by Classic Empire  , was fourth last out in the Dec. 17 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes. The latter adds blinkers.

Springboard Mile runner-up Osbourne , who missed by a half-length, also returns in the Southwest. The Tapiture   gelding is trained and co-owned by Ron Moquett.

Ignitis , Kavod , Vivar , Ben Diesel , and Don'tcrossthedevil  are the others returning from the Smarty Jones. Last-out Oaklawn maiden winner Call Me Jamal  completes the field.

The Southwest will award qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) on a 10-4-2-1 scale, the same amount that the Smarty Jones awarded. Should Newgrange finish in the top four, he will be ineligible to earn any points due to a rule from Churchill Downs Inc. that does not award points to any horse trained by an individual suspended from the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

Baffert was suspended by CDI last June through Churchill Downs' 2023 spring meet after Medina Spirit tested positive for the corticosteroid betamethasone after finishing first in the Kentucky Derby. Betamethasone is a therapeutic medication prohibited on race day in Kentucky. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has yet to make a ruling in the case.

Entries: Southwest S. (G3)

Oaklawn Park, Saturday, January 29, 2022, Race 9

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $750,000
• 3 yo
• 4:22 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Ben Diesel (KY)	Jon Kenton Court	117	Dallas Stewart	10/1
2	2Dash Attack (KY)	David Cohen	122	Kenneth G. McPeek	7/2
3	3Don'tcrossthedevil (KY)	Ramon A. Vazquez	117	Philip D'Amato	30/1
4	4Kavod (KY)	Francisco Arrieta	117	Chris A. Hartman	12/1
5	5Costa Terra (KY)	Tiago Josue Pereira	117	Steven M. Asmussen	12/1
6	6Osbourne (KY)	David Cabrera	117	Ron Moquett	8/1
7	7Ignitis (KY)	Luis Contreras	117	D. Wayne Lukas	10/1
8	8Barber Road (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	117	John Alexander Ortiz	5/1
9	9Classic Moment (KY)	Martin Garcia	117	Steven M. Asmussen	12/1
10	10Newgrange (KY)	John R. Velazquez	122	Bob Baffert	2/1
11	11Call Me Jamal (KY)	Geovanni Franco	117	Michael Puhich	30/1
12	12Vivar (KY)	Florent Geroux	119	Brad H. Cox	12/1