The Lead:
Reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna headlines Saturday's Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn in what looks to be an insurmountable task for her overmatched rivals. The Grade 3 $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap tops the undercard on the big day in Hot Springs and will be our focus. It's Race 8 with a post time of 5:04 pm CT.

Two-time defending Count Fleet champ Skelly, interestingly, is running Friday in an Oaklawn allowance in his first start since the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Despite that, his 6-time Count Fleet-winning trainer Steve Asmussen still has the strongest hand to play in Saturday's dash.

​Field Depth:
ANARCHIST is a Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed. Four others are Grade 3 winnners -- BOOTH, RYVIT, TEJANO TWIST and HAPPY AMERICAN. The latter pair also have Grade 1-placings on their ledgers. ANARCHIST has kept the strongest strength of schedule over time.
​​
Pace:
BOOTH likely outfoots these from the gate with ANARCHIST and RYVIT in closest pursuit. It's a pretty soft pace scenario for a 6-furlong graded stakes.

Our Eyes:
Here are my horse-by-horse notes.

#1-DEVIL'S TOWER: 18-time winner makes his first graded stakes appearance in start 42. Armando Hernandez trainee boasts an 8-for-15 mark that includes an allowance win at the meeting. Reunites with jockey Francisco Arrieta, who comes into the week 1 win ahead of Cristian Torres in a heated leading jockeys' race.

#2-HAPPY AMERICAN: Veteran has made nearly $700,000 routing throughout his career and curiously placed in 6-furlong sprint stakes (4: 0-0-1 lifetime at this distance). David Jacobson takes over the training for the first time of this 7-year-old Runhappy gelding, who was third in the 2023 Grade 1 Stephen Foster over 9 furlongs. Cross-entered Friday in an allowance over this same trip.

#3-BOOTH: He's gone from a solid 3-for-7 lifetime sprinter to the next potential champion for Steve Asmussen -- all since February 24. His remarkable 1:08-3/5 win in the Commodore overnight stakes was followed up with a smashing Grade 3 Whitmore score that netted 105 and 107 Beyer Speed Figures in successive outings. Asmussen's wins here include future champions like Jackie's Warrior and Whitmore, and he's looking to capture a fourth straight Count Fleet. The one to catch.

#4-TEJANO TWIST: One of the most honest Midwest sprinters of the past several years, this 6-year-old is 21-39 in the exacta lifetime and a remarkable 11: 5-4-2 at Oaklawn. He won the King Cotton in January before a late-running third to Booth in the Grade 2 Whitmore. Third in this race in 2023 and runner-up a year ago, he'll need some melting down to get over the hump from far back. He's won 1 of his last 11 while missing only 1 superfecta in his last 23 starts. Brian Hernandez Jr. is in town for the mount aboard Thorpedo Anna in the Apple Blossom and gets the undercard call.

#5-PAYNE: 10-year-old senior saw his 4-race winning streak snapped when runner-up April 4 in his first start since being claimed by David Jacobson. Admiral mark of 23-47 in the exacta lifetime with a dozen wins, but he's 0-7 in stakes bids over the years. Sixth in the 2023 Count Fleet, one of the few Oaklawn misfires on a 16: 7-5-2 local record. Nik Juarez takes over in the saddle.

#6-ANARCHIST: Santa Anita-based horse had a fantastic 4-year-old season in 2023 but has had limited chances since then without replicating that form. Won Del Mar's Grade 2 Pat O'Brien and was a head runner-up in that meet's Grade 1 Bing Crosby. Well-traveled with road trips to Woodbine, Belmont, Churchill and Korea. Doug O'Neill brings SoCal-based jockey Kyle Frey along for the ride. Looks to snap a 5-race skid dating back to that '23 Pat O'Brien score.

#7-RYVIT: Fourth-place finisher in last year's Count Fleet has struggled with consistency during an 8-race losing streak. Steve Asmussen trainee likely not fast enough to get in front of stablemate Booth early, which puts him in a difficult position of no lead, no pass. Six of 7 lifetime wins have come at the 6-furlong trip and Keith Asmussen will be at the controls as usual.

Most Certain Exotics Contender:
TEJANO TWIST always brings enough game to put on any superfecta ticket.

Best Longshot Exotics Contender:
DEVIL'S TOWER had 8 straight top-2 finishes before a modest letdown last out. He should get a good trip riding the fence behind front-running Booth.

Sending it in ($100 bankroll):
$100 exacta BOOTH over DEVIL'S TOWER, trying to work the price in underneath to create some return.