Azeri Stakes - 37th Running
Compiled by Robert Yates
Contact: Chris Ho, Vice President of Marketing, cho@oaklawn.com, 501-623-4411 ext. 4201
Saturday, March 9, 2024
TINY TEMPER - Photo Credit: Coady Media
HOT SPRINGS, AR – Mark and Nancy Stanley’s Tiny Temper wore down Misty Veil in the final 50 yards to post an upset victory in Oaklawn’s G2-$400,000 Azeri Stakes Saturday.
Making her stakes debut, Tiny Temper overcame a sluggish start to finish a neck ahead of Misty Veil in the 1 1/16-miles race for older fillies and mares. It was another 1 ½ lengths farther back to Bellamore in third. Shotgun Hottie, who finished fourth, was followed, in order, by 6-5 favorite Hot and Sultry, Soul of an Angel, Comparative and Saddle Up Jessie.
James Graham rode Tiny Temper ($25.60) for trainer Dallas Stewart.
Last after a half-mile in a modest :48.21, Tiny Temper began advancing toward the leaders along the rail on the second turn. Tiny Temper split Bellamore and Misty Veil passing the eighth pole and collared the latter on the outside in the shadow of the wire.
A 4-year-old daughter of deceased champion Arrogate, Tiny Temper, covered 1 1/16 miles over a good-rated surface in 1:45.58. She was exiting allowance victory at 1 mile and 70 yards Jan. 25 at the Fair Grounds.
The Azeri was the third victory in five lifetime starts for Tiny Temper, boosting her earnings to $354,240. The Azeri is the final major local prep for the $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at 1 1/16 miles April 13.
Racing resumes Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (Central).
AZERI QUOTES
Winning jockey James Graham/Tiny Temper: “She didn’t get away real good. And he (trainer Dallas Stewart)
emphasized that, the last time I rode her. Not that she doesn’t stand good in there (starting gate), it’s like she falls asleep when she gets in there. Today, I tried not to let her fall asleep, but I made it worse. When she broke that badly, I didn’t ask her. I just took the reins and let her point her way into the race. I don’t know what the internal fractions were. Didn’t feel like they were going very fast. But they were going quick enough to where I was: ‘Well, this is OK.’ They’re not running away from me; I’m not having to chase into it (pace). At the half-mile pole, I kind of tightened up on her and she leaned into the bridle. I said, ‘Man, this good.’ We’re still going forward. The horse that ran second (Misty Veil) jumped back across me (toward the rail in upper stretch). She was going to go around and cut back to the inside. I went around her and got an open lane and she (Tiny Temper) ran to the wire.”
Winning trainer Dallas Stewart/Tiny Temper: “Don’t be afraid to get in there. She showed up big today. We believed in her all along. It’s just taken a while. Hopefully, we’ll get back to the Apple Blossom. After she won (Jan. 25 entry-level allowance at Fair Grounds), I was like: ‘We need to be serious about what we’re doing with her quick.’ Just get in some good races. This was on the (radar), for sure.”
