Gaming, Patch Adams Top Field for Southwest; Picks, Odds

A year ago, Mystik Dan pulled off an upset in the Southwest Stakes (G3) over a muddy track at 11-1 odds and went on to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) at even longer odds (18-1).

Could there be another Derby winner lurking in Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile, $1 million Southwest at Oaklawn Park?

Grade 1 winner Gaming leads the field of ten to post in the Southwest Stakes

A field of 10 is entered for the Derby qualifier awarding 20-10-6-4-2 points to the first five finishers on a sliding scale.

With trainer Bob Baffert back on the Derby trail, he’ll be looking for a seventh victory in the Southwest with 2-1 favorite Gaming.

The Asmussen family may have a say in the outcome as trainer Steve sends out a pair of longshots – 10-1 Tiztastic with son Keith aboard and 12-1 Publisher with son Erik aboard – seeking his fourth win in the Southwest.

Gaming is one of a slew of Derby contenders for Baffert and comes into the race off a lackluster third in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2). He won in his debut, then captured the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and ran second to stablemate Citizen Bull in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

Juan Hernandez has the call leaving from post 1.

Cox-Trained Patch Adams Gears Up for More; Sandman Overcomes Setbacks

Patch Adams (5-2) and Sandman (5-1) are also primed to enhance their resumes.

Trained by Brad Cox, Patch Adams was super impressive in a maiden win on Nov. 30 – a 10 ½-length romp in his maiden win at 7 furlongs Nov. 30, just .33 seconds off the Churchill Downs track record. The win came after a third in his debut at Keeneland in October.

“It's always nice when you get a start under one and they move forward," Cox said of the win. “We took the blinkers off; we'd been working him by himself and he certainly acted like he was ready to run a big race.”

Since then, Patch Adams has posted five encouraging workouts at Payson Park in Florida.

Sandman, a $1.2 million purchase at the 2024 Ocala Breeders' 2-yer-old sale, won a 1-mile allowance at Oaklawn on Dec. 13 after finishing fifth in the Iroquois Stakes (G3) and third in the Street Sense (G3). He was 2-for-5 in 2024.

A half-mile work in 48.80 seconds on Jan. 17 at Oaklawn has jockey Jamie Torres believing the colt will be ready to go despite a few breaks in training due to severe winter weather.

“We’re really happy with the work,’’ Torres said. “He galloped out really nice. Hopefully, he shows up next week [Saturday]. The storm came and he missed a work. Hopefully, it doesn’t bother him.”

For those who bet horse racing ...

The picks: 1 Patch Adams 2 Gaming 3 Tiztastic

The field for the $1 million Southwest Stakes (G3), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:

1 Gaming (Juan Hernandez, Bob Baffert), 2-1

2 Publisher (Erik Asmussen, Steve Asmussen), 12-1

3 Monet's Magic (Francisco Arrieta, Ben Colebrook), 15-1

4 Tiztastic (Keith Asmussen, Steve Asmussen), 10-1

5 Render Judgment (Emmanuel Esquivel, Kenny McPeek), 15-1

6 Sandman (Cristian Torres, Mark Casse), 5-1

7 Patch Adams (Flavien Prat, Brad Cox), 5-2

8 American Promise (Tyler Bacon, D. Wayne Lukas), 6-1

9 Bon Temps (Nik Juarez, D. Wayne Lukas), 30-1

10 Speed King (Rafael Bejarano, Ron Moquett), 15-1

US Racing Team

The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.