Hot and Sultry ‘s first 2024 audition for a grade 1 race in April didn’t go as planned. She has a second chance March 9 at Oaklawn Park when she races in the $400,000 Azeri Stakes (G2).
The Azeri is the final major local prep for the $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 13. Both the Azeri and Apple Blossom are at 1 1/16 miles on dirt.
Hot and Sultry, the 2-1 morning-line favorite under Ricardo Santana Jr., looks to rebound from a fifth-place finish in her 2024 debut at Oaklawn in the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) Feb. 2. Her race unraveled at the start after she stumbled badly and fell to the back, negating her biggest asset: speed.
“She still only got beat (just over) four lengths,” trainer Norm Casse of the mare. “There was a wall of horses that backed up against her all the way to the quarter pole and I think if she had gotten clear that day a little earlier, things might have been even more different. But it is what it is. Poor break; just a complete throw-out.
“She’s training great and I wouldn’t trade our horse for anybody else’s.”
Sign up for BloodHorse Daily
Entering the Bayakoa, Hot and Sultry had not started since a front-running eight-length victory Nov. 18 at Churchill Downs in the one-mile $295,000 Chilukki Stakes (G3), a race around one turn. In addition to the Chilukki, Hot and Sultry won the $150,000 American Beauty Stakes for older female sprinters at six furlongs last season at Oaklawn before finishing fourth in the Azeri and third in the Apple Blossom.
She is 4-for-7 in one-turn races and 0-for-3 around two turns, though always while competing in graded routes. The 5-year-old daughter of Speightster races for Arkansas residents JoAnn and Alex Lieblong, the latter the chair of the Arkansas State Racing Commission.
“I wish that (poor start in the Bayakoa) hadn’t happened,” Alex Lieblong told BloodHorse. “But it’s a tough ol’ game.”
Casse said Saturday’s race will determine if Hot and Sultry will again be pointed to the Apple Blossom or cut back to seven furlongs for the $600,000 Madison Stakes (G1) April 6 at Keeneland.
“I personally feel like she’s better now than she’s ever been,” Casse said. “As far as a crossroad race, yeah, there’s going to be a big decision that’s made after this race, in terms of what we do next with her. The idea when we came down here was to see if we aimed for the Apple Blossom or the Madison at Keeneland. So, it’s all going to be dictated by how she runs this weekend.”
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
Leave feedback about this