FULL FIELDS, COMPETITIVE FIFTH SEASON AWAIT FANS OPENING DAY

HOT SPRINGS, AR (Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2011) – The excitement surrounding the start of Oaklawn’s 108th season will reach a fever pitch when the gates open Friday for the nine-race card, which features the $75,000 Fifth Season Stakes for 4-year-olds and older going 1 1/16 miles. Gates open at 11 am and first post is 1:00 p.m.

The Fifth Season drew a solid field of eight horses, the smallest on the card, and is headed by 2011 Razorback Handicap winner It Happened Again. The 9-5 morning line favorite enters the race off a resounding win in the Claiming Crown Jewel at Fair Grounds Dec. 3, his first start since June.

On Fire Baby Breezes Gets Final Smarty Jones Work in Before Rain

Morning rains couldn’t keep exciting filly On Fire Baby from posting her final major workout ahead of an expected date against the boys next Monday in the $100,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn.

Owned by Anita Cauley, the two-time Graded stakes winner last fall in Kentucky was officially clocked going five furlongs in 1:02 1/5 Tuesday morning just before a thunderstorm hit Hot Springs. Trainer Gary “Red Dog” Hartlage was most excited by the way the gray daughter of Smoke Glacken finished the breeze.

“She’s so ready,” said Hartlage. “She just looks so good and comes home so easily.”

Saying she could run with anyone her age, trainer Gary Hartlage has races against males on the agenda for stakes-winning filly On Fire Baby including the $100,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 16 at Oaklawn Park.

Owned by Anita Cauley, On Fire Baby went 3-for-4 as a 2-year-old with wins in the Pocahontas Stakes (G2) and the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs. She breezed seven furlongs Wednesday morning at Oaklawn in 1:29 2/5 under regular jockey Joe Johnson.

Her workouts in Hot Springs have opened up the possibilities for “Red Dog” Hartlage when it comes to choosing where the daughter of Smoke Glacken will make her 3-year-old debut.