Upstart Makes Season Debut in Razorback

Ralph Evans' Upstart, a major player on last year's Triple Crown trail, makes his 2016 debut in the March 19 Razorback Handicap (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park. The New York-bred son of Flatter   is the 120-pound highweight for the 1 1/16-mile Razorback, Oaklawn's prep for the April 16 Oaklawn Handicap (gr. II).



Upstart won last year's Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II) and finished first in the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) but was disqualified and placed second. A runner-up effort in the Besilu Stables Florida Derby (gr. I) set him up for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), but the dark bay or brown colt failed to fire and finished 18th. He made three subsequent starts at 3 last summer and was a moderate factor behind the likes of American Pharoah  , Keen Ice, and Frosted.



Under the care of trainer Richard Violette, Upstart has been training forwardly at Palm Meadows Training Center in South Florida. He face a hornet's nest of local competition in the Razorback while making his Arkansas debut in the $350,000 race.



Michael Langford's Carve will be making his 10th appearance at Oaklawn. The 6-year-old First Samurai   gelding has a 4-1-3 mark and has brought home $449,000 for his exploits. Last year he was fourth behind Race Day  , Midnight Hawk, and Golden Ticket   in the Razorback and second behind Race Day (and ahead of Tapiture  ) in the Oaklawn Handicap.



Carve made his first start in more than six months in the Feb. 13 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn and rallied to finish third, beaten just a length by La Macchina. Corey Nakatani gets his first ride aboard Carve from trainer Steve Asmussen.



La Macchina is part of a three-horse entry from Otabek Umarov's O'zbekiston Racing. The owner/trainer claimed La Macchina for $30,000 from Ken and Sarah Ramsey last November. The 4-year-old Malibu Moon   gelding has won both of his local starts at the Razorback trip.



Umarov's other runners are Incremental, an $8,000 claim at Churchill Downs last September, and Looks to Spare, a $5,000 claim in April 2015. Looks to Spare stunned racing fans at Churchill last fall running third at 88-1 behind Effinex and Hoppertunity in the grade I Clark Handicap. The Razorback will be his first start of the year.



Another horse for the course is Harry Rosenblum and Robert LaPenta's Far Right, winner of last year's Smarty Jones and Southwest (gr. III) stakes over the track. In a pair of starts this year the son of Notional   was second and then won an allowance optional claiming race Feb. 25. A pair of works for trainer Ron Moquett have followed.



Others in the field include Carlos Pelligrini (Arg-I) winner Idolo Porteno, a 6-year-old son of Jump Start   who makes his North American debut for trainer Ignacio Correas; and C.R. Trout's homebred Shotgun Kowboy. The Oklahoma-bred won all three of his starts last year at Remington Park before finishing fifth in the Clark.