4/30/26 Lake Hamilton & Bachelor Stakes
By Robert Yates
$200,000 Lake Hamilton Stakes – Friday, May 1
The list of Lake Hamilton Stakes winners goes like this: Skelly, Skelly, and Skelly.
Skelly’s retirement opened the door for a new name Friday at Oaklawn with the fourth running of the $200,000 six-furlong event for older horses.
The Lake Hamilton headlines a 12-race card that begins 12:45 p.m. CDT. Probable post time for the Lake Hamilton, the 11th race, is 6:46 p.m.
The Lake Hamilton drew a field of nine, including 9-5 program favorite Zero Sugar for trainer Cipriano Contreras, millionaire multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Tejano Twist (7-2) for trainer Chris Hartman and multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Booth (5-1) for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
Zero Sugar returns to stakes company after winning his last two starts at the meeting. Both allowance races were six furlongs. Zero Sugar’s previous four starts had been around two turns, including a 1 1/8-mile maiden special weight victory in March 2025 at Oaklawn.
Returning to six furlongs, Zero Sugar ran an eye-catching 1:08.76 March 1 and 1:09.42 after being wheeled back March 19. Zero Sugar began sprinting again after a two-turn allowance race earlier in the meeting didn’t fill.
“I thought long was going to be his game,” said Contreras, who trains Zero Sugar for a partnership that includes Hot Springs residents Staton Flurry and Jeremy Stone. “I ran him short because there was nowhere to run him. He won the non-two allowance and went fast. The way he did it, he was drawing away from the field. He ran a good race. We brought him back in another allowance race, then he won again. I think he can run short and long.”
Regular rider Emmanuel Esquivel has the mount on Zero Sugar, who is scheduled to break from post 5.
Tejano Twist looks to rebound from a rare dull fifth-place finish in the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) at six furlongs April 11 Oaklawn. The late-running 7-year-old gelding was beaten 5 ¾ lengths after not firing in the stretch.
“He didn’t turn over for us, for whatever reason,” trainer Chris Hartman said. “See what happens this time. It’s a good field of horses. I don’t know if there’s a much pace as there was last time, but he makes his pace late. We’ll see.”
Tejano Twist ($1,922,882 in career earnings) had won his previous two starts, including the $250,000 Whitmore Stakes (G3) March 14. The six-furlong Whitmore was the final major local prep for the Count Fleet.
Booth swept the 2025 Whitmore and Count Fleet in front-running fashion, but the 5-year-old is winless in two starts this year. Booth exits a fourth in the Count Fleet after failing to show his usual early speed.
Hola Joey, Surveillance, Dapper Moon, Mikel W, Sharp Swinger and Gold Sweep complete the Lake Hamilton lineup.
$150,000 Bachelor Stakes – Friday, May 1
A fast horse named for a fast car is the one to catch in the six-furlong $150,000 Bachelor Stakes for 3-year-olds Friday at Oaklawn.
Stradale is the 7-5 program favorite for the Bachelor, which is part of a 12-race program that begins at 12:45 p.m. CDT. Probable post time for the Bachelor, the ninth race, is 5:32 p.m.
Stradale will try to give Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen his record-extending 10th Bachelor victory.
Owner Kaleem Shah purchased Stradale for $1.3 million at the 2025 OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in training. An Italian word that refers to a sports car designed for public roads often used by manufacturers such as Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, Stradale is from the first crop of the Asmussen-trained Yaupon, North America’s leading first-crop sire of 2025.
Stradale is two-for-two under Asmussen’s oldest son, Keith Asmussen, who has the mount Friday. Stradale and Keith Asmussen teamed for a 5 ½-length maiden victory Oct. 26 at Churchill Downs and a sharp 3 ½-length first-level allowance score March 5 at Oaklawn in the colt’s 2026 debut. Both races were 6 furlongs.
“Just pure ability,” Asmussen said, when asked what he liked about Stradale. “He’s a strong horse, big and powerful, and very fast. Just getting along with him is probably going to be the deciding factor.”
Stradale is scheduled to break from post 6 in the nine-horse field. Asmussen is seeking his second Bachelor victory after winning the 2023 edition aboard Ryvit for his father.
The Bachelor returns Oscar’s Hope and Tiz Mary’s Comet, 1-2, respectively, in the six-furlong $150,000 Ozark Stakes Feb. 16 at Oaklawn.
Tiz Mary’s Comet (10-1) exits a victory in the Lafayette Stakes April 4 at Evangeline Downs for trainer Rylee Magnon. Oscar’s Hope (5-1) finished second, beaten a head, in Keeneland’s Lafayette Stakes in his last start. The seven-furlong race April 3 marked the colt’s first start for trainer Kinnon LaRose.
Dirty Rich, Violence in Red, Good Civilian, Two Seven O, One More Freud and Doublecents are also entered. Dirty Rich (12-1) won the $150,000 Advent Stakes at 5 ½ furlongs Dec. 12 at Oaklawn for trainer Peter Miller.
Two Seven O (7-2) makes his stakes debut for trainer David Fawkes after winning his last three starts, including two this season at Oaklawn. One More Freud (6-1) and Good Civilian (20-1) are both unbeaten in two lifetime starts.
Good Civilian will be making his first start for co-owner Staton Flurry of Hot Springs and trainer Cipriano Contreras after being purchased for $240,000 in July’s Inglis Digital USA Sale. An Indiana-bred, Good Civilian won the Prairie Gold Juvenile Stakes last July at Prairie Meadows.
“Gave him a little break and he’s back and ready to run,” Contreras said. “I kind of wanted to keep him running against 3-year-olds and there’s not a race for him until July, a little stake, in Indiana (Horseshoe Indianapolis). The deal is to run him here. This way, we’re not working him five-eighths every week and then go and run him in Indiana against his own kind.”
One More Freud hasn’t started since the one-mile Sapling Stakes Aug. 30 at Monmouth Park. He is now trained by Bob Hess Jr. after previously being conditioned by Mike Maker.
