Saturday Oaklawn Picks: 4/12/2025

The Oaklawn season, which used to end around Arkansas Derby time, now continues all the way through the Kentucky Derby. And, the biggest racing in Hot Springs isn’t over yet. Saturday’s card features the $1.25 million Apple Blossom (G1), a 1 1/16-mile dirt feature for the top of the filly and mare turf division. Some of the best fillies and mares of the last several decades have won the race, including Zenyatta, Azeri, and Untapable. The 2025 edition is headlined by a filly who has already written her name into history several times over: defending Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna.

The 12-race card, which gets underway Saturday at 12:20 p.m. Central Daylight Time, has two stakes. In addition to the Apple Blossom, the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) features older sprinters headlined by Booth, who carries two straight stakes wins into the race. You can watch every race on FanDuel TV for expert analysis of races all over the country, and place all your bets at FanDuel!

Make sure to check the track condition and scratches on race day before you place your bets. The skies are supposed to be clear and sunny through the weekend at Oaklawn, but scratches can happen for any reason, so it’s always best to check and make sure the pace setup is what you expect.

With less than a month to go until the Kentucky Derby, check out the latest Kentucky Derby odds and see which contenders are set to compete!

Oaklawn: Saturday Picks

Race 8 - Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3), six furlongs on the dirt - Booth, Devil’s Tower

FanDuel odds: 3-5 and 15-1

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Booth (3-5) carries two straight stakes victories into the Count Fleet, and seems to have found his way for trainer Steve Asmussen. His last two outings have been career bests, with the biggest question being if he keeps that form. He’d be worth trying to beat on top if it looked like any horse could go with him early, but based on who else entered the race, Booth is fast enough to clear off and enjoy a lone-speed trip.

When the best horse has the pace advantage, it’s good to play narrow and find a horse who can round out an exacta at a price behind them. Fortunately, there’s such a horse in the Count Fleet this year, Devil’s Tower (15-1). Though he often shows pace, he won’t have the kind of pace to keep up with Booth early, but fortunately for him, in recent races, he has settled into a more tracking style, which has worked out nicely for him. That includes a win two back against $40,000 starter allowance company. He came up a bit flat against tougher last out, but it was also his first race back since a freshening. If he improves second off the break, which he is liable to do, he should be right back in the range of form that would give him a shot to track in range and keep on running. It is also a positive sign that Francisco Arrieta gets back in the saddle—Arrieta is a good rider, still underrated, and firing at a high percentage at Oaklawn. And, Arrieta rode Devil’s Tower in that two-back win.

Race 11 - Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), 1 1/16 miles on the dirt - Thorpedo Anna, Wild Bout Hilary

FanDuel odds: 2-5 and 20-1

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Thorpedo Anna (2-5) is a star for good reason. She has never run a bad race in 11 starts, including five wins at the top level, and she picked up right where she left off when she won the Azeri (G2) last month over the local course. She is speedy but tactical, well proven at the distance, and just keeps showing up. There’s not a whole lot that can be said other than … if she shows up on her game, she towers over this field, and she does nothing but show up on her game.

Much like in the Count Fleet, the trick is to find a price horse to play underneath Thorpedo Anna to play in the exotics. Free Like a Girl, second in the Azeri, is the more “obvious” underneath horse. But for a bomber to play in exactas or as a second underneath horse alongside Free Like a Girl in a trifecta, give a long look to Wild Bout Hilary (20-1). Early speed plays well at Oaklawn, and she has very good early speed. The outside post in a modest-sized field is a recipe for a clean trip. The question is whether she is good enough to finish the job against these horses, but the good news is, this is a very stratified field. She beat Free Like a Girl last out, Where’s My Ring has never been the most consistent, and the rest aren’t the same caliber. Wild Bout Hilary has every chance to round out the exacta at big odds.

Race 12 - Allowance-optional claiming, N2X or $62,500 claiming price, six furlongs on the dirt - Pharoah’s Heart, Demidanu

FanDuel odds: 12-1 and 5-2

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The get-out race is an allowance-optional claiming dirt sprint that drew a field of 11. Itzel comes out of a victory in as classy a starter allowance as you’ll ever see, one that was open to non-winners of three lifetime as long as they had ever been in for a claiming tag. However, with Gloriette, Won Happy Mama, and even Dashingly and Kant Believe It in the mix, the pace will be a lot more contested this time around.

This may set up nicely for Pharoah’s Heart (12-1) at a nice price. He is rising in class off a win in a $35,000/N1X allowance-optional claiming race over this course and distance last out, and this is the next level up. But, he has run well at this kind of level before, and trainer David Jacobson does well keeping last-out winners in form. Though he doesn’t get Flavien Prat riding like he did last out, he has some good rapport with Samuel Camacho as well, meaning if he holds form from last out, he has every right to be the one overhauling the tiring leaders late.

Demidanu (5-2) is mired down on the fence, which could make getting a trip thorny. But, if high-percentage rider Francisco Arrieta can figure out a good place to set him tracking off the pace, he should be able to pick up the leaders in the lane. It’s a smart placing for him, too—he won last out at this same level while in for the $62,500 tag, and he returns while not up for a tag, meaning his connections are pleased with his form and keen to keep him.

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