Wily veteran conditioner D. Wayne Lukas is firmly on the Kentucky Derby 2013 trail following Oxbow’s facile wire job triumph in the G3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds on Jan 19.
Oxbow experienced a comfortable journey through tepid fractions and rolled home much the best over Golden Soul and Fear the Kitten. The BSF came back 91.
I am not ready to place Oxbow in my Top 10 just yet. I would like to see him face a combination of pace pressure and better company next time. The 4th place CashCall Futurity finisher definitely made Violence look good.
I’m not done with Lukas yet because he struck again in Monday’s Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park with Will Take Charge, who dug in gamely to prevail in a 3-horse photo over Texas Bling and Always in a Tiz. The preliminary BSF came back 86.
Brown Almighty finished 5th in his first start on dirt and reportedly exited the Smarty Jones with a lung infection.
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