Cezanne to Stretch Out in Oaklawn Mile Stakes

Often brilliant Cezanne , who has had stops and starts to his three-season racing career, will aim for a second straight victory March 28 against an expected nine other older horses in the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

While Cezanne is making his third start of the season, the 5-year-old son of Culin is lightly raced after just one start in 2021 and three as a juvenile. Campaigned by Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and St. Elias Stables, Cezanne may be hitting his stride after opening 2022 with a third-place finish in the Palos Verdes Stakes (G3) before turning heads March 5 in the San Carlos Stakes presented by FanDuel (G2) when he drew off in the stretch to win by 2 1/2 lengths.

In seeking some consistency, the two starts at Santa Anita Park already under his belt this season are nearly as encouraging as that authoritative recent victory. After competing at six furlongs in the Palos Verdes, trainer Bob Baffert stretched him out to seven furlongs for the San Carlos. The scheduled two-turn start Saturday, which features a short stretch with the finish line at the sixteenth pole, will mark the first route for Cezanne since 2020 when he finished fourth in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar.

The Oaklawn Mile will be Cezanne's first start outside of Southern California but Oaklawn has been the scene for plenty of success for Baffert. In just 85 starts at Oaklawn through March 27, Baffert runners have earned more than $9.9 million. They've won 36 races, including 22 graded stakes. Also, regular rider Flavien Prat will make the trip to Hot Springs, Ark.

While Cezanne will try to post the third graded stakes win of his career, Oaklawn-based Market Analysis  has earned a return to stakes competition behind three strong races at Oaklawn this year. Trained by Robertino Diodoro, whose 31 victories through March 27 at the meet are second only to Steve Asmussen, Market Analysis boasts a pair of clear allowance-level victories sandwiched around a runner-up finish at that level.

"He's running the way he trains," said Diodoro of the horse who started his career under Todd Pletcher and had been trained by Tim Padilla most of last year. "He's trained great since we got him. I wasn't sure if he always trained like that or what, and I still don't know his past history because I didn't know the horse. But he's been training and working great. He's another one that kind of keeps getting better. He was meant to be a good horse. The story is he had some kind of issue when he was 3 and they did a surgery on him."

Silver Prospector , looking for his first stakes win since February 2020 when he won the Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn, enters off a strong runner-up finish in the Mineshaft Stakes (G3) Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. The 5-year-old son of Declaration of War  led throughout that 1 1/16-mile test before yielding to Olympiad  in the stretch.

That effort was flattered when Olympiad came back to register a two-length score in the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) March 26 at Fair Grounds.