Far Right reigns, along with rain, in Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park
Far Right continued his domination of the Oaklawn Park Triple Crown prep series on Sunday when the colt splashed to a win in the $300,000 Southwest Stakes.
The race was contested on a sloppy track nearly a week later than originally scheduled after being delayed due to bad weather on Presidents' Day. But the extra week didn't seem to harm Far Right, who had won the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn a little over a month ago by 1 3/4 lengths.
Mr. Z, whose antics in the Smarty Jones had cost him the race, was running with a new bit in the Southwest Stakes. With the equipment change, Mr. Z was still eager to go to the front, setting the pace for the rest of the field to follow.
Jockey Mike Smith set Far Right in the rear of the field, multiple lengths behind the leaders, patiently bidding his time in the 1 1/16 mile race. Far Right and Smith closed the gap that had laid between them and the leaders after running a half in 47.90 and the race was on.
Hillbilly Royalty and The Truth Or Else put the pressure on Mr. Z down the stretch, with the three horses battling down the middle of the track in what looked like it may be a three-way photo finish.
Those three were focused on each other when Smith asked Far Right to go to the inside after clearing the rest of the field, giving the pair the chance to sneak to the lead. In the end, that's exactly what happened, with Far Right riding up the rail as The Truth or Else and Mr. Z continued to battle closer to the middle of the track.
The 1 1/16 miles were covered in a time of 1:47.50 with Far Right coming out the obvious leader, winning by three-quarters of a lengths. While it wasn't the three-way photo finish it looked like it might have the chance to be in midstretch, The Truth Or Else and Mr. Z were involved in a photo for second with The Truth Or Else being rewarded for his battle by taking second. Mr. Z, who seems to be the hard luck horse of this crop, finished third for the third straight time.
Far Right has paid off many of his connections well, he was purchased for $2,500 as a yearling before being privately purchased by Harry Rosenblum and Robert LaPenta. Trained by Ron Moquett, Far Right has won two stakes races and has hit the board in two others. He currently sits sixth on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard after his Southwest Stakes win with a total of 22 points.
Despite being the winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes over the track last out, Far Right wasn't the race favorite. He went off at odds of 2.70-to-1, while Mr. Z was the post time favorite at odds of 2.40-1.
