Gold Street faces eight in Southwest

Feb 14, 2020 by James Scully/TwinSpires.com

Gold Street will try to build upon his upset win in the Jan. 24 Smarty Jones when he lines up against eight rivals in Monday’s $750,000 Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn Park. The second of four Road to the Kentucky Derby series qualifiers at the Hot Springs, Arkansas track, the 1 1/16-mile Southwest awards points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the top four finishers.

One of a Steve Asmussen trio, Gold Street has won three straight races by open lengths on wet tracks. He registered a field-best 99 Brisnet Speed rating posting a 2 3/4-length score at 10-1 odds in the Smarty Jones, but the son of Street Boss likely will have to transfer his form to a fast track on President’s Day. Martin Garcia retains the mount on the confirmed front-runner.

Silver Prospector and Shoplifted will look to rebound for Asmussen after finishing fourth and third, respectively, in the Smarty Jones. Both colts concluded 2019 by winning Kentucky Derby qualifiers, with Silver Prospector taking the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs and Shoplifted capturing the Remington Springboard Mile, and neither can be dismissed from consideration here. Ricardo Santana Jr. will be up on Silver Prospector, and Brian Hernandez Jr. picks up the assignment on Shoplifted.

Wells Bayou, a sharp front-running allowance winner at Oaklawn on Jan. 26, will make his stakes debut for Brad Cox. He earned a 96 Brisnet Speed figure for the four-length decision, and Florent Geroux has the call. Cox will also send out Answer In, a good-looking maiden winner two back and a head second most recently in the Springboard Mile as the 3-5 favorite. Javier Castellano will be in to ride.

Other runners include Remsen (G3) third-placer Chase Tracker, Sham (G3) fourth-placer Taishan, and last-out maiden winner Villainous. American Butterfly, a head second in a Feb. 2 Oaklawn allowance for four-time Kentucky Derby victor D. Wayne Lukas, completes the field.