AT THE POST

DAY 41

ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE 5,250

ON-TRACK HANDLE $409,143

OFF-TRACK HANDLE $1,970,552

TOTAL HANDLE $2,316,695

CLASSIX CARRYOVER $2,297.38

TODAY’S FIRST POST 1:30 p.m.

TODAY’S WAGERING MENU Win-placeshow, exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagering offered on all races. Daily double (races 1-2, 8-9). CLASSIX (races 3-8). Pick-3 (rolling begins with race 2). Pick-4 (races 2-5 races 6-9).

TODAY’S SIMULCASTING SCHEDULE 11:30 a.m. Laurel Park, 11:25 a.m. Tampa Bay, Noon Gulfstream, 12:20 p.m. Aqueduct, 1:25 p.m. Fair Grounds, 1:50 p.m. Hawthorne, 2:45 p.m. Golden Gate, 3:00 p.m. Santa Anita, 5:00 p.m. Penn National, 5:15 p.m. Turfway Park, 5:45 p.m. Wheeling (greyhounds), 6:05 p.m. Charles Town, 7:05 p.m. Houston, 7:30 p.m. Southland (greyhounds), 9 p.m. Los Alamitos

THURSDAY’S STARS

Newcomer Walter De La Cruz won two races to increase his victory total 16 victories after a slow start to the season. Leading jockeys Ricardo Santana Jr. (41) and Ramon Vazquez (38) each won a race to stay firmly atop the jockey standings. Shaun Bridgmohan is third with 28 victories. Cliff Berry (24) won the seventh race on Phenomenal Phoenix ($19.40) and is the only other jockey outside the top three with more than 20 victories. The day’s nine races were won by nine different trainers, including trainer Donnie Von Hemel’s 11th victory of the season with Phenomenal Phoenix. Von Hemel is tied with Ron Moquett for sixth place in the trainer standings. Steve Hobby, William Martin, Wayne Catalano and Randy Morse are tied for 10th with 10 victories. Hobby and Martin won races on Thursday.

FINAL FURLONG

Horses raced over fast dry track for the second consecutive day despite overnight precipitation. … Chris Hartman maintained his 20-18 over Steve Asmussen in the training standings — both trainers were shutout Thursday — but Hartman told the Oaklawn media department that Asmussen has to be considered the favorite. “It’s Steve’s race to lose,” Hartman said. “He’s got way more numbers. I don’t have the numbers to do it.” Hartman, 42, who won 17 races last year to finish sixth in standings, has won with 14 of his last 54 starters. “This is by far the best barn I’ve had,” Hartman said. “This is the best horses I’ve ever trained, as a pile of horses, I’ve upgraded my livestock quite a bit.” Hartman said he will move his stable to Churchill Downs in Kentucky after the Oaklawn meeting ends April 11 instead of Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa, where he has been based. Hartman has 1,041 career victories since he started his first horse in 1992. He has saddled more than 100 winners five times in a year since 2007, including a career-high 117 in 2009 to rank 33rd in North America. … The Oaklawn media department reports that at least five fillies are pointing to the April 4 Grade III $400,000 Fantasy Stakes: Sweet Opportunity (trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel); Sarah Sis, winner of the Grade III Honeybee on Feb. 7, Oceanwave, second-place finisher in the Honeybee and third-place Honeybee finisher Pangburn. In addition, at least two shippers are scheduled to run in the Fantasy: Florida-based Feathered for trainer Todd Pletcher and Southern California-based Achiever’s Legacy for Jerry Hollendorfer. … Asmussen entered Thursday with 6,995 career winners, the second-highest total in North American history, according to Equibase. Asmussen, who has won seven Oaklawn training titles since 2007, only trails the late Dale Baird (9,445 career winners). Asmussen has 440 career victories at Oaklawn, where he recorded his 4,000th victory during the 2008 meeting. He surpassed 2,000 career starts at Oaklawn Wednesday. Asmussen, 49, saddled his first career winner in 1986. Asmussen had no starters entered at Oaklawn on Thursday but won the first race at Fair Grounds to increase his North American total to 6,996.

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