Booth Back for More in Count Fleet Sprint Handicap

Booth  looks to make it three in a row this year at Oaklawn Park with a win in the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) at six furlongs April 12. The 4-year-old son of Mitole   is the youngest competitor in the seven-horse field of older horses.

Booth was last seen winning the Whitmore Stakes (G3) March 15 by 2 1/4 lengths over Giant Mischief  and Tejano Twist , who he will face again Saturday. Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by his son Erik, the colt is owned in partnership by William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Jackpot Farm, and Whispering Oaks Farm. 

"He's just matured into his own," his Hall of Fame trainer said. "It's great to see Mitole reproduce something so similar to him."

Booth is from the first crop of the Spendthrift Farm sire, the Eclipse Award-winning male sprinter of 2019 who won that year's Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita Park for Asmussen and the Heiligbrodts. Also in 2019, Mitole won Count Fleet by 2 3/4 lengths over Whitmore , the 2020 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and Eclipse honoree of that season.

"What an unbelievable legacy," Asmussen said, referring to the Heiligbrodts and swift sprinters. "When (Booth) broke his maiden against Nash at Keeneland, he couldn't have looked any better and it's so good to see him back into form."

Asmussen has won the Count Fleet six times, including the past three years.

Booth is scheduled to break from post 3 Saturday, carrying high weight of 123 pounds. He spots the opposition between 3-9 pounds.

Asmussen will also send out Ryvit , a 5-year-old son of Competitive Edge  . Another of the trainer's sons, Keith, will ride.

Tejano Twist, a 6-year-old graded stakes-winning son of Practical Joke  , will make his third appearance in the Count Fleet, after finishing second and third, respectively, in 2024 and 2023. The Chris Hartman trainee has earned more than $1.5 million in his career. He will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. for owners JD Thoroughbreds and Joey Keith Davis.

Ilium Stables' multiple graded stakes winner Anarchist  will attempt to add another victory to his résumé after coming up winless in his last five starts. He was last seen finishing fifth in the San Simeon Stakes (G3T) March 8 at Santa Anita Park. Kyle Frey will be in the irons for trainer Doug O'Neill.

Trainer David Jacobson has two entries—Happy American  and Payne . Payne, a 10-year-old gelding owned by Robert Proulx, finished second in a starter allowance at Oaklawn April 4, coming off a four-race win streak in claiming races this year at Oaklawn. Nik Juarez has the mount.