Harvey Wallbanger Potent Threat in Oaklawn Invitational

Shortly before the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) is contested at Churchill Downs, the Preakness Stakes (G1) will be center stage at Oaklawn Park.

Yes, Oaklawn.

In the first year of an expanded meet that now stretches into the first Saturday in May, Oaklawn needed some additional stakes to fill its racing calendar and one of them will be staged May 4 in the form of the $300,000 Oaklawn Invitational.

A 1 1/8-mile test for 3-year-olds, the first running of the Oaklawn Invitational offers an added bonus tied to the Triple Crown. Aside from about $180,000 in purse money, the winner will receive a guaranteed spot in the Preakness, provided the horse is nominated to the Triple Crown.

Six of the 11 starters are Triple Crown-nominated, yet that doesn't mean any of them will be spending May 18 in the home of crab cakes and the Orioles.

Harvey Wallbanger was once considered an interesting Kentucky Derby candidate, yet ever since his surprising Feb. 2 victory in the Fasig-Tipton Holy Bull Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park, the son of Congrats  has lacked a reason to celebrate. He was eighth behind Maximum Security in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) March 30 and then seventh in the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3), putting trainer Ken McPeek in the position of wanting a vehicle to get his 3-year-old back on track rather than a van ride to Baltimore.

"I'm not worried about the Preakness. I just want to find a spot where he can win again," said McPeek, who already has a candidate for the Preakness in Signalman, who failed to earn enough qualifying points to run in the Kentucky Derby.

Out of the Distorted Humor  mare Adorabell, Harvey Wallbanger rallied from ninth to capture the Holy Bull at 29-1 odds. Aided by a quick opening half-mile of :46.76 in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull, he had little chance of closing into fractions of :48.98 eight weeks later in the Florida Derby and :48.23 in the April 13 Lexington.

"He came out of the Lexington fine. He's had a couple of races where the pace of the race and even the distance didn't suit his game," McPeek said. "In the Florida Derby, we all know it was get to the lead, and no one was catching (trainer Jason) Servis' horse. At Keeneland, for a good portion of the meet, nobody was closing. I'm not sure the trip was the cleanest, too."

In a bid to get Harvey Wallbanger on his toes, McPeek will be running the Kentucky-bred in blinkers Saturday. Harvey Wallbanger wore blinkers for the first time in an April 28 workout at Keeneland when he zipped through five furlongs in a bullet :59 4/5.

"He needed a little focus," McPeek said. "We're not sure if they will help, but at this point we wanted to try them and see how he will handle them. He worked sharply in them, but ask me about them again on Sunday night."

Owned by Harold Lerner, the AWC Stables of Wayne and Adriana Cutler, Nehoc Stables, Scott Akman, Paul Braverman, McPeek's Magdalena Racing, and David A. Bernsen, Harvey Wallbanger was bought for $50,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale and has already earned $310,320 with two wins from seven starts. He was bred by Tony Holmes and Dr. and Mrs. Walter Zent.

Not surprisingly, the field has a heavy dose of flavor from trainer Steve Asmussen, whose horses have already earned more than $5.1 million at the meet and who is headed to a 10th Oaklawn training title since 2007 with 58 wins through May 1. The Hall of Famer is sending out four starters, a group that includes Bloom Racing Stable and Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables' Comedian, Winchell Thoroughbreds' Wicked Indeed, William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Shang, and Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Laughing Fox.

Laughing Fox, a son of Union Rags , has the best credentials, coming off a fourth-place finish in the Arkansas Derby (G1), trailing Kentucky Derby favorite Omaha Beach and Run for the Roses starters Improbable and Country House. Wicked Indeed was fourth behind another Kentucky Derby starter, Cutting Humor, in the Sunland Park Derby (G3), while Shang was fifth in the Lexington and Comedian was fifth most recently in an allowance optional claimer at Oaklawn.

Math Wizard, claimed by John Fanelli and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. for $25,000 on Jan. 31, has made rapid improvement for his new connections which also includes Collarmele Vitelli Stables, Bassett Stables, Ioannis Zoumas, Wynwood Thoroughbreds, and Joseph in the ownership group. The son of Algorithms  was fourth, beaten by 4 1/2 lengths most recently in the Wood Memorial Presented by NYRA Bets (G2), behind Kentucky Derby starters Tacitus, Tax, and Haikal.

Trainer Dallas Stewart also believes in safety in numbers, sending out the duo of David McCarty's Hidden Ruler, second in an April 12 allowance optional claimer at Oaklawn, and the Estate of James Coleman Jr.'s Chess Chief, who was fifth in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2).

Entries: Oaklawn Invitational S.

Oaklawn Park, Saturday, May 04, 2019, Race 11

• STK
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $300,000
• 3 yo
• 5:38 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Comedian (KY)	Stewart Elliott	123	Steven M. Asmussen	15/1
2	2Roiland (KY)	Jermaine V. Bridgmohan	123	Thomas M. Amoss	15/1
3	3Harvey Wallbanger (KY)	David Cohen	123	Kenneth G. McPeek	6/1
4	4Math Wizard (KY)	Edgard J. Zayas	123	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	4/1
5	5Proverb (FL)	Calvin H. Borel	123	Ron Moquett	12/1
6	6Wicked Indeed (KY)	Richard E. Eramia	123	Steven M. Asmussen	12/1
7	7Night Ops (KY)	Colby J. Hernandez	123	Brad H. Cox	8/1
8	8Shang (LA)	Joseph Rocco, Jr.	123	Steven M. Asmussen	6/1
9	9Hidden Ruler (KY)	Orlando Mojica	123	Dallas Stewart	6/1
10	10Laughing Fox (KY)	Ramon A. Vazquez	123	Steven M. Asmussen	3/1
11	11Chess Chief (VA)	Edgar Morales	123	Dallas Stewart	20/1