Compelling Matchups in Martha Washington, King Cotton

While the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) takes center stage Jan. 29 at Oaklawn Park, the two undercard stakes are shaping up to be just as exciting as the main event with a rematch between two talented sprinters in the $150,000 King Cotton and a showdown between three budding stars in the 3-year-old filly division in the $200,000 Martha Washington. 

The Martha Washington serves as a stepping stone to the April 2 $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3), Oaklawn's premier prep race for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). Worth 10 points towards the Oaks, the Martha Washington drew a competitive field of six sophomore fillies, including Winchell Thoroughbreds' homebred Optionality , an impressive winner of her last three starts.

Since airing a field of maidens at Indiana Grand last October, Optionality has simply dominated her competition in two stakes events, landing the Nov. 23 Zia Park Princess Stakes and the Dec. 17 Trapeze Stakes. In the Trapeze, the Steve Asmussen trainee drew off to a handy 8 1/4-length score in her first try around two turns. The daughter of leading first crop sire Gun Runner   will be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. in the Martha Washington.

"(Optionality) hasn't done anything wrong," said David Fiske, the Winchell's longtime farm and racing manager. "Her speed figures keep increasing every time she goes out. We thought maybe she was just a sprinter, but going around two turns at Remington didn't seem to bother her that much. Won by a big margin, so we thought she deserved her chance to kind of step up on the big stage."

Briland Farm's Secret Oath  is a proven entity at the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Martha Washington, having broke her maiden over that trip as a 2-year-old last fall at Churchill Downs. The Arrogate  filly won so convincingly that day that her connections entered her against graded company in the Golden Rod Stakes (G2), where she could fair no better than fifth. Shipped to Oaklawn, Secret Oath rebounded with an easy allowance win for trainer D. Wayne Lukas Dec. 31, netting a 99 Equibase Speed Figure. Luis Contreras retains the mount.

"If we can get that repeat performance (of Secret Oath's Dec. 31 win), we'll be in pretty good shape," said Lukas. "That was impressive. It was absolutely textbook. If I'd drawn it up on paper and got the other seven or eight or nine that were in there to cooperate, that's the way I would like it. I'd like to have her inside like that, catching dirt in her face, and then angling out and opening up on them like that."

Not to be ignored is Shortleaf Stable's homebred Como Square . An undefeated 2-for-2, the half sister to last year's Smarty Jones Stakes winner and Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Caddo River  lines up in her first attempt at stakes company and at the two-turn distance in the Martha Washington. The daughter of Into Mischief   enters off a Dec. 19 allowance optional claiming win where she launched a furious late rally to get up by three-quarters of a length going six furlongs over the Oaklawn oval. Trained by Brad Cox, Como Square secures the services of John Velazquez on Saturday.

Entries: Martha Washington S.

Oaklawn Park, Saturday, January 29, 2022, Race 4

• STK
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 1:32 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Hypersport (KY)	Tiago Josue Pereira	115	Ingrid Mason	8/1
2	2Princess Pauline (KY)	Francisco Arrieta	115	Steven M. Asmussen	8/1
3	3Como Square (KY)	John R. Velazquez	122	Brad H. Cox	5/2
4	4Optionality (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	122	Steven M. Asmussen	9/5
5	5Cupid's Music (TX)	Luis S. Quinonez	115	Danele Durham	20/1
6	6Secret Oath (KY)	Luis Contreras	122	D. Wayne Lukas	2/1

Hollis vs. Nashville Round Two in King Cotton

WSS Racing and 4 G Racing's Hollis  and China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's Nashville  meet again in the six-furlong King Cotton Stakes. The two runners clashed in a Dec. 10 5 1/2-furlong allowance optional claiming contest at Oaklawn, which resulted in a track record-setting 4 1/2 length tally for Hollis. Nashville, making his first start in nearly a year, settled for second. However, with a race under his belt, Nashville, who earned a whopping 117 Equibase Speed Figure as a 3-year-old in a brilliant Perryville Stakes victory, may have a solid chance to rebound on the 7-year-old Hollis. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Nashville will be piloted by Florent Geroux in the King Cotton.

Hollis, a two-time stakes winner on both dirt and turf for trainer John Ortiz, is the high weight at 122 pounds on Saturday, lugging seven more pounds than Nashville. The versatile gelding, sure to be a part of the speed as he breaks from the 1 hole, will have Ricardo Santana Jr. aboard. 

"It’s a big concern of mine, but he's a horse that works his way to the front," said Ortiz of Hollis breaking from the inside post. "Ricardo (Santana) already knows him and he's got a winning move. From the three-eighths pole, he'll take the race and he'll battle all the way to the wire."

Ortiz will be seeking his first career Oaklawn stakes victory Saturday.

A total of nine horses drew in for the King Cotton, which also includes Collusion Illusion , a grade 1 winner in 2020 when capturing the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar and the Ron Moquett trained Seven Nation Army , a four-time winner at Oaklawn who placed second in last year's King Cotton. 

Entries: King Cotton S.

Oaklawn Park, Saturday, January 29, 2022, Race 10

• STK
• 6f
• Dirt
• $150,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 4:55 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Hollis (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	122	John Alexander Ortiz	4/1
2	2Long Range Toddy (KY)	Jon Kenton Court	115	Dallas Stewart	20/1
3	3Home Base (ON)	Francisco Arrieta	115	Cipriano Contreras	12/1
4	4Collusion Illusion (FL)	John R. Velazquez	115	Mark Glatt	3/1
5	5Double Crown (MD)	David Cabrera	115	Thomas M. Amoss	12/1
6	6Nashville (KY)	Florent Geroux	115	Steven M. Asmussen	5/2
7	7Bob's Edge (KY)	Luis S. Quinonez	119	J. Larry Jones	5/1
8	8Boldor (VA)	David Cohen	117	Steven M. Asmussen	8/1
9	9Seven Nation Army (KY)	Ramon A. Vazquez	115	Ron Moquett	8/1