Whitmore to Make Seasonal Debut in Hot Springs Stakes
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Last year's TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) runner-up Whitmore is scheduled to make his 2019 debut in the $150,000 Hot Springs Stakes for older sprinters March 9 at Oaklawn Park.
The 6-year-old Pleasantly Perfect gelding hasn't started since finishing second to Roy H in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs. Roy H, the country's champion male sprinter of 2017 and 2018, returned to win the Jan. 19 Palos Verdes Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park by four lengths.
Whitmore, Oaklawn's top older sprinter in 2017 and 2018, is bidding to join E J Harley (1998-2000) as the only other horse to win the Hot Springs three consecutive years.
"The opponents all offer fitness over us, recency with races, and then we're going to figure out what the track's going to be," trainer Ron Moquett said. "All I want is for him to go out there and come back safe and sound and happy and go from there."
Robert LaPenta, Moquett's Southern Springs Stables, and Head of Plains Partners' Whitmore is the even-money favorite for the Hot Springs, which goes as the seventh of 10 races.
The Hot Springs is the final major local prep for the April 13 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3), which Whitmore also won in 2017 and 2018. Whitmore's path to this year's Hot Springs mirrors 2018, when he resurfaced there after competing in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Whitmore's sterling résumé includes 11 victories and $2,381,000 in earnings.
"I know we have a good horse," Moquett said. "I've got him as far as I can get him for this race. I'm confident."