While stick and ball sports remain on the sideline horse racing is open for business. There will be a total of four tracks with full cards and horse racing odds for this weekend. Most important of all Oaklawn Park will be running the biggest race of the entire weekend on Saturday. The Grade 1 $600,000 Apple Blossom handicap will feature the best fillies and mares in the world. Now let’s take a look at the weekend lineup from tracks around the country.
Tampa Bay Downs, Tampa Florida – Saturday
On Saturday Tampa Bay Downs will have a total of six races on the card.
Remington Park – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Saturday
Overall, there will be 10 races on the card from Remington Park on Saturday.
Oaklawn Park – Hot Springs, Arkansas – Saturday
Saturday’s card has a total of 11 races on the card which includes the biggest online betting race of the weekend with the $600,000 Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap.
Gulfstream Park – Hallandale Beach, Florida – Saturday
A total of 12 races are on the Saturday card for Gulfstream Park.
Apple Blossom Handicap
On the whole, the Grade 1 $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap is a mile and a sixteenth in length. The Race is scheduled to be run on Saturday at approximately 6:16 p.m. ET. A total of 14 fillies and mares are expected to run.
The field and projected horse-racing odds for the Apple Blossom Handicap is as follows: Ollie’s Candy 12/1, Coldwater 50/1, Awe Emma 30/1, Come Dancing 6/1, Point of Honor 12/1, Street Band 12/1, Queen Nekia 20/1, Saracosa 30/1, Horologist 20/1, Cookie Dough 12/1, Serengeti Empress 3/1, Go Google Yourself 15/1, Lady Apple 12/1, Ce Ce 9/2.
Ollie’s Candy is trained by John Sadler with jockey Joel Rosario getting the mount. The last time out for Ollie’s Candy was in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile Stakes at Santa Anita on March 14. Ollie’s Candy finished third in that race. Compared to most horses in this race, Ollie’s Candy has great experience in quality races. She has run Grade 2 races in eight of her last nine starts with the exception being a Grade 3 run. She is a five-year-old mare.
Namely Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas is a name brand for Come Dancing. Jockey Florent Geroux will be aboard. Come Dancing is coming off a disappointing sixth-place finish at the Grade 1 Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on November 2, 2019. Prior to that, she won the Grade 2 Gallant Blossom Handicap and the Grade 1 Ballerina.
Four-year-old filly Serengeti Express is trained by Tom Amoss with Joe Talamo expected to get the mount. Serengeti Express is coming off a win at the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes.
CeCe is a four-year-old filly that is trained by Michael McCarthy with jockey Victor Espinoza. CeCe brings impressive momentum into the Apple Blossom Handicap. To show she was the winner of the Grade 1 Beholder Mile. That followed a win in an option claim race.
In view of fame trainer, Steven Asmussen is a four year old filly Lady Apple getting a strong look. Ricardo Santana Jr. will get the ride. She finished fifth in her last race at the Grade 2 Azeri stakes. However, before that, she won Grade 3 races in the Remington Park Oaks and Houston Ladies Classic.