Razorback Sets Up as Season Debut for Copper Bullet

Copper Bullet will stretch out in his season debut on Presidents Day at Oaklawn Park where he will take on an evenly matched field of 13 other older horses in the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3).

The 1 1/16-mile test is one of three graded stakes featured on the Feb. 18 card, and is one of two for older horses, which is preceded by the $200,000 Bayakoa Stakes for older fillies and mares.

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's 4-year-old Copper Bullet will get a class break and comes off an uplaced effort in the Dec. 26 Malibu Stakes (G1) going seven furlongs, where he finished 11th behind winner McKinzie. The added distance will be a first for the Steve Asmussen trainee who has not run beyond the Malibu distance.

Copper Bullet made his return one start prior to the Malibu after being sidelined with shin issues for more than a year. That Churchill Downs allowance race marked a successful return to racing for the son of More Than Ready , who won the seven-furlong test by 3 1/2 lengths over a field of 3-year-olds and up.

In his 2-year-old season just before the issues were discovered, Copper Bullet won the Saratoga Special Stakes Presented by Coors Light (G2) and prior to that finished runner up in the Bashford Manor Stakes (G3) at Churchill.

Leaving from the rail, Copper Bullet will be ridden by Jose Ortiz.

Other prime contenders include the Todd Pletcher entrant Coal Front and the Mark Casse trained Souper Tapit, who both bring victories into the Razorback.

Coal Front has won five of his seven career starts, including a 3 3/4-length score in the Dec. 22 Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park. The 5-year-old Stay Thirsty  ridgling won the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) in his stakes debut and took the Gallant Bob (G3) at Parx Racing after finishing fifth in the H. Allen Jerkens (G1) back at Saratoga Race Course. 

Coal Front was assigned the highweight of 120 pounds and will leave the outside post with jockey John Velazquez.

Souper Tapit brings two Gulfstream wins into the Razorback, most recently taking the Sunshine Millions Classic Stakes. He was a grade 3 winner as a  2-year-old but has not competed at this level since finishing eighth in the 2017 Hollywood Derby (G1) at Del Mar.

He will be ridden by David Cohen from post 5.

Nanoosh will make his graded stakes debut off a three-race win streak. The 4-year-old Paynter  colt won the Zia Park Derby to finish out 2018 and in doing so defeated Razorback entrant All Out Blitz, as well as graded stakes-placed Combatant, grade 3 winners Limation and Sky Promise, and multiple stakes winner Yulong Warrior.

Nanoosh's two other wins came at Turf Paradise and Canterbury Park. He broke his maiden at Keeneland as a 2-year-old, but after finishing seventh in a Churchill Downs allowance race he was not seen again until September of 2018 when he began his winning roll. Trained by Robertino Diodoro for Rockingham Ranch, Zayat Stables, and David Bersen, Nanoosh will get the services of jockey Orlando Mojica.

One race prior to the Razorback, fillies and mares will compete in the 1 1/16-mile Bayakoa Stakes where She's a Julie will headline in a 10-horse field that includes the likes of Auspicious Babe, Moonlit Garden, and Oklahoma-bred Sydney Freeman.

Although the Asmussen trained She's a Julie finished off 2018 with a fourth in the Zia Park Oaks, the 4-year-old Elusive Quality filly had stepped up her game over the summer. She won the Iowa Oaks (G3) and Remington Park Oaks (G3), while sandwiched between those victories she finished runner up to Eskimo Kisses in the Alabama Stakes (G1).

Entries: Razorback H. (G3)

Oaklawn Park, Monday, February 18, 2019, Race 8

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $500,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 4:38 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Copper Bullet (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	117	Steven M. Asmussen	6/1
2	2Remembering Rita (KY)	Alex Birzer	115	Doug L. Anderson	20/1
3	3Rocking the Boat (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	115	Dale L. Romans	20/1
4	4Sonneteer (KY)	Richard E. Eramia	115	J. Keith Desormeaux	12/1
5	5Souper Tapit (FL)	David Cohen	117	Mark E. Casse	9/2
6	6Nun the Less (KY)	Walter De La Cruz	114	Cipriano Contreras	12/1
7	7Nanoosh (KY)	Orlando Mojica	115	Robertino Diodoro	12/1
8	8Lone Rock (KY)	Alex L. Canchari	114	William B. Van Meter	20/1
9	9Rated R Superstar (KY)	David Cabrera	114	Cipriano Contreras	30/1
10	10All Out Blitz (KY)	Tyler Baze	115	Simon Callaghan	12/1
11	11Tiz He the One (KY)	Trevor McCarthy	116	Jeremiah C. Englehart	10/1
12	12M G Warrior (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	115	Dallas Stewart	5/1
13	13Thirstforlife (KY)	Miguel Mena	113	Wesley E. Hawley	30/1
14	14Coal Front (KY)	John R. Velazquez	120	Todd A. Pletcher	5/2

Entries: Bayakoa S. (G3)

Oaklawn Park, Monday, February 18, 2019, Race 7

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:09 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Auspicious Babe (KY)	Edgar Morales	117	Dallas Stewart	15/1
2	2Holiday's Angel (KY)	Jermaine V. Bridgmohan	117	Allen Milligan	30/1
3	3Promise of Spring (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	115	Steve Margolis	12/1
4	4Dutch Parrot (AR)	David Cohen	119	William B. Van Meter	10/1
5	5Smart Emma (KY)	Richard E. Eramia	117	Daniel C. Peitz	20/1
6	6She's a Julie (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	119	Steven M. Asmussen	9/5
7	7Remedy (KY)	Florent Geroux	115	Brad H. Cox	4/1
8	8Rose of Malibu (KY)	David Cabrera	117	C. R. Trout	6/1
9	9Sydney Freeman (OK)	Ramon A. Vazquez	122	Donnie K. Von Hemel	12/1
10	10Moonlit Garden (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	119	Christopher Davis	4/1