Preakness Berth On Line in Bath House Row at Oaklawn

Earlier this year, Red Route One , Victory Formation , and Two Eagles River  were in competition on the Road to the Kentucky Derby (G1), among the favorites in graded stakes races, only to fall off the trail by finishing unplaced.

Derby dreams dashed, that talented trio of 3-year-olds returns April 22 in the $200,000 Bath House Row Stakes at Oaklawn Park, where a winning performance will earn a Triple Crown-nominated horse an automatic berth in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the May 20 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course. 

Red Route One, Victory Formation, and Two Eagles River are all nominees to the Triple Crown, as are three of the six other Bath House Row entries—Mazing Mark , Powerful , and Tapit Shoes .

Late-running Red Route One, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen for Winchell Thoroughbreds, and speedster Two Eagles River, who Chris Hartman trains for owners Mach 1 Racing and Scattered Acres, exit the April 1 Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn, where they were respectively sixth and seventh. 

"Bad day for him," Asmussen said of Red Route One's performance. "Just try to find the right spots for him from here on out."

Hartman was similarly disappointed by where Two Eagles River finished.

"He sort of let us down last time, but, hopefully, we'll see if it's the class or the distance that seems to be the problem," he said. "Hopefully, we'll get an answered question out of this one."

Victory Formation, a winner of his first three of four starts, including the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn over Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire  on New Year's Day, seeks to rebound from a ninth-place finish in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. The Tapwrit   colt, trained by Brad Cox for owners Spendthrift Farm and Frank Fletcher Racing Operations, missed some time after that race after sustaining a minor leg laceration in a stall accident.

Since recovering from his minor injury, Victory Formation worked four times, first at Fair Grounds and later at Churchill Downs.

"Pretty happy with his works the last few weeks at Churchill," Cox said. "Thought this race made a lot of sense."

The Bath House Row, previously contested as the Oaklawn Stakes, was won by Cox in 2021 with Fulsome  and again last year with Home Brew .

Cox, seeking a single-season Oaklawn record ninth stakes victory at the 2022-23 meeting, also runs the up-and-coming Tapit Shoes, a half brother to Cyberknife  , Cox's 2022 Arkansas Derby winner. A son of Tapit  , he has made all four career starts at 1 1/16 miles and exits a third-place finish in an entry-level allowance optional claimer Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds. He was rerouted to the Bath House Row after an allowance race at Keeneland did not fill, Cox said.

"I do think he'll like a mile and an eighth. He doesn't have a lot of speed," Cox said. "He showed a little bit more speed last time than he had in his previous runs, but he's a horse that's learning and getting better the more he does it. He needs to take a step forward and I hope he does."

Tapit Shoes runs for the partnership of Spendthrift Farm, Steve Landers Racing, Martin Schwartz, Michael Dubb, Ten Strike Racing, Jim Bakke, Titletown Racing, Kueber Racing, Big Easy Racing, Winners Win, Michael Caruso, and WinStar Farm.

Entries: Bath House Row S.

Oaklawn Park, Saturday, April 22, 2023, Race 11

• STK
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 3 yo
• 5:46 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Interlock Empire (KY)	David Cabrera	118	Kenneth G. McPeek	8/1
2	2Mazing Mark (KY)	Jon Kenton Court	124	Lonnie Briley	20/1
3	3Powerful (KY)	Isaac Castillo	124	Steven M. Asmussen	15/1
4	4Red Route One (KY)	Joel Rosario	118	Steven M. Asmussen	2/1
5	5Aristocracy (KY)	Cristian A. Torres	118	Robertino Diodoro	20/1
6	6Victory Formation (KY)	Luis Saez	124	Brad H. Cox	3/1
7	7Two Eagles River (KY)	Mitchell Murrill	121	Chris A. Hartman	4/1
8	8Line to Gain (KY)	Eduardo Gallardo	118	Nevada Litfin	30/1
9	9Tapit Shoes (KY)	Kent J. Desormeaux	118	Brad H. Cox	7/2