Skelly bids for his ninth consecutive Oaklawn victory
At 0h27, on April 11, 2025 • By Robert Yates, Oaklawn Park
Millionaire multiple stakes winner Skelly bids for his ninth consecutive Oaklawn victory in Friday’s featured ninth race, a six-furlong $131,000 allowance for older horses.
A swift 6-year-old gelded son of Practical Joke, Skelly will be making his first start since finishing 10th in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 2 at Del Mar for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and Texas owner Chris Hicks (Red Lane Thoroughbreds).
Skelly’s eight consecutive victories at Oaklawn – four at the 2022-2023 meeting and four last season – have all come at six furlongs. Regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr. will be aboard Skelly, the 3-5 program favorite who will break from the rail in his comeback.
“Drew the fence – make it interesting,” Asmussen said. “It’s time to get him back going. We missed a little more time over the winter, obviously, with the extreme weather we’ve had. I was hoping to get a race in him before the Count Fleet, but, obviously, Mother Nature had different plans for all of us this winter. But I think he’s doing fabulous and I’m excited to see him run again.”
Skelly won the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) the last two years at Oaklawn. No horse has won the Count Fleet three consecutive years. Asmussen has the 3-5 program favorite for the Count Fleet in multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Booth.
Skelly returned to the work tab Feb. 13 at Fair Grounds. The gelding breezed six times at Fair Grounds and March 31 at Oaklawn in advance of his 2025 debut.
“He’s a big, older horse that needs to run,” Asmussen said of the five-time Oaklawn stakes winner.
In addition to the Count Fleet, Skelly won Oaklawn’s Lake Hamilton Stakes in 2023 and 2024 and its King Cotton Stakes in 2024. His Oaklawn winning streak also includes three allowance victories.
Skelly (eight victories) is Asmussen’s winningest horse at Oaklawn, where the trainer has a record 984 career victories.
Skelly has an 8-1-0 mark in 10 lifetime starts at Oaklawn and earnings of $1,108,663. Overall, Skelly has a 10-7-0 record in 19 starts and earnings of $1,777,163.
Probable post time for Friday’s ninth race is 6:38 p.m.
