Jackie's Warrior to Return in April 16 Count Fleet

Jackie's Warrior, the champion male sprinter of 2021, is scheduled to return in the six-furlong Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn Park April 16, co-owner Kirk Robison said March 25.

The intention is for the colt to use that race as preparation for the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford (G1) on the May 7 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) undercard, Robison added. Jackie's Warrior won the Pat Day Mile Stakes Presented by LG&E and KU (G2) at Churchill Downs last Derby Day.

The 4-year-old son of Maclean's Music  , owned by Robison and his wife, Judy, underwent knee surgery after a sixth-place finish in the Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 6 at Del Mar, the only time he has been worse than fourth in his career. The colt has recorded five workouts this year at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, the most recent of which was a bullet five-furlong breeze in :59 4/5 Friday.

"He's a very impressive horse that's coming back nicely," Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said after Friday's breeze. "He goes fast, easy."

One of the top 2-year-olds of 2020 when he won the Saratoga Special Stakes Presented by Miller Lite (G2), the Runhappy Hopeful Stakes (G1), and the Champagne Stakes (G1), Jackie's Warrior maintained his elite status as a 3-year-old in 2021. Last year he won four of seven starts, including the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, when he edged returning Life Is Good  in one of the top sprint battles of the season.

He is one of two leading sprinters currently training in Louisiana along with Aloha West , the Breeders' Cup Sprint winner. The latter, a Wayne Catalano trainee, finished second in year-end Eclipse Award voting behind Jackie's Warrior in the champion male sprinter category.

His owner, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, lists on its website the Commonwealth Stakes (G3) at Keeneland April 9 and the Churchill Downs Stakes as upcoming starts for him.

Asked about year-end goals for Jackie's Warrior, Robison said he has not conversed with Asmussen about it, but "well, I think I know what he would say," he said.

"I want to win the Breeders' Cup Sprint this year," Robison added. "We were not able to do it last year. I think he's a Breeders' Cup-style horse, and if they were to run that race today, he would certainly be one of the favorites. So come Breeders' Cup time, I hope he's sound. I hope he's running well. And I hope he wins it."

Robison said this is Jackie's Warrior's last year on the racetrack, with his breeding rights sold to Spendthrift Farm in an agreement announced in October 2020.

"He's 8-of-12, and two of the losses were around two turns. So we're going to excuse those," Robison said. "When he's sprinting, he's pretty damn tough.

"We didn't get that Breeders' Cup (last year), but we got the Eclipse Award, and it doesn't get much better than that. When they refer to him as a sprint champion, it sounds good, it really does."