Plainsman First Lasix-Free Bonus Winner in 2018

Plainsman became the first "Lasix-free bonus" winner of the 2018 Oaklawn Park meeting, and the 15th since the Arkansas track began the program in 2015, with a half-length victory in the ninth race Jan. 20, a maiden special weight sprint for 3-year-olds.

Owned by Arkansas lumberman John Ed Anthony's Shortleaf Stable and trained by Will VanMeter, Plainsman paid $70 to win.

Plainsman, a son of Flatter , represented a record fourth Lasix-free bonus victory for Anthony and VanMeter (their third together) and earned a 10% bonus of $4,500. The race's original purse was $75,000, with $45,000 going to the winner.

VanMeter said Plainsman is a typical example of the philosophy he and Anthony—among the most successful owners in Oaklawn history and long a hay, oats, and water advocate—share regarding Lasix, a diuretic also known as furosemide.

Plainsman was making his first start since he came in ninth in his Oct. 7 debut at Keeneland.

"Just giving them a chance to mature without it," VanMeter said. "He just fits the typical profile, specifically what John Ed wants us to do with the horses."

VanMeter, 34, saddled his first winner at the 2014 Oaklawn meeting and has trained for Anthony since the 2016 Oaklawn meet. He has 15 horses this year at Oaklawn, including 10 for Anthony, who is noted for campaigning Eclipse Award winners Temperence Hill, Vanlandingham, and Prairie Bayou.

Charles Cella, Oaklawn's president from 1968 until his death Dec. 6, announced in September of 2014 that Oaklawn would become the country's first track to offer a purse incentive for horses who ran and won without Lasix during the 2015 meeting.

The medication wasn't legalized at Oaklawn until the late 1980s.

In a news release announcing the bonus, Cella called Oaklawn's program "experimental" and said he hoped it would inspire more owners and trainers to race their horses without Lasix.

Oaklawn had five Lasix-free winners in 2015, four in 2016, and five in 2017, according to data provided by the track.

The 15 Lasix-free winners have totaled $35,400 in bonuses to date. The bonus funds come from the track and not its purse account.

Anthony has collected almost half the bonus money awarded to date ($17,610), including a record $4,980 for Dutch Parrot's victory in an Arkansas-bred allowance race in March of 2017.

VanMeter had three Lasix-free winners at last year's meeting—two for Anthony with Dutch Parrot and another with Double First.

Plainsman was the only horse in Saturday's race who didn't run on Lasix. But VanMeter said he understands the other side of the issue, since Lasix is a legal medication.

"The last thing, I think, I or John Ed want to do is sit on a soap box and say, 'This is the way it ought to be,'" VanMeter said. "I think we want to be left alone and run our horses how we want to."

Anthony also has horses with trainer Brad Cox, including High North, who is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in the $500,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) Feb. 19 at Oaklawn. High North made his first three starts without Lasix.

Based on the 2018 opening-day purse structure, the bonus will range from $1,200 for Oaklawn's minimum purse of $20,000 to $60,000 for the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1).