Lightly raced and undefeated Gentlemen's Bet will add some intrigue when he faces several tough competitors in the $250,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park April 13.
Owned by Harry Rosenblum and trained by Ron Moquett, Gentlemen’s Bet is three-for-three, with two of those victories having come during the current Oaklawn meet. The 4-year-old Florida-bred son of Half Ours impressively won a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight event in his career debut in January 2012, and then wasn’t seen again until early February of this year.
Gentlemen’s Bet cleared his first two allowance conditions with easy wins at six furlongs, the distance of the Count Fleet. He will be ridden by Robby Albarado, who was aboard for his last two wins, at 114 pounds from post 1 in the eight-horse field.
Trainer Steve Asmussen may have the top choices in Zayat Stables’ Justin Phillip and Peachtree Stable’s Flashpoint, who will race uncoupled for betting purposes.
Justin Phillip, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred horse by First Samurai , finished a solid fifth in last year’s Xpressbet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park, and in his last start got back in the winning groove with a handy allowance victory in his Oaklawn debut. Ricardo Santana Jr. is listed to ride Justin Phillip, the 119-pound highweight, from post 3.
Flashpoint, a 5-year-old Florida-bred horse by Pomeroy , finished last in the 2011 Preakness Stakes (gr. I) before cutting back to sprints. He promptly won the Jersey Shore Stakes (gr. III) at Monmouth Park that year.
In two starts this year, Flashpoint won the Sam Houston Sprint Stakes and finished second in the Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn. Luis Quinonez gets a return call at 117 pounds from post 5.