KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas: Color Me Blue Takes Fifth Season; Apprentice Canchari Wins Two

(Source: Oaklawn) It was a day of firsts as Oaklawn kicked off  its 108^th season Friday in front of an on track crowd of 18,087. R.L. Reineman Stable's Color Me Blue became a stakes winner in the $75,000 Fifth Season after 16  starts and apprentice Alex Canchari collected not only his first career win aboard Run Mama Beare Run in the first race, but then returned to also win the sixth race with Simply Gone.

In the Fifth Season, Color Me Blue raced last early under jockey Israel Ocampo and bided his time as Richmond set the early fractions of :23 3/5 and :46 4/5 for the half mile before fading. Twice the Appeal, making his first start since the 2011 Kentucky Derby, took over the lead coming into the stretch, but was worn down in the final furlongs by Color Me Blue, who split rivals and got up in the final jumps to prevail be a neck. It Happened Again, the 3.60-to-1 favorite, had a troubled trip and finished third. The winning time for the 1 1/16-mile race was 1:45 3/5.

Color Me Blue returned $13.40, $5.40 and $3.20 at odds of $5.70-to-1.

Oaklawn has one of the toughest jockey colonies in the country right now with perennial leaders such as Terry Thompson and Cliff Berry and new comers Channing Hill and Florent Geroux, but the day belonged to Canchari, an 18-year-old native of Shakopee, Minn. His father is former jockey turned trainer Luis Canchari. He had only ridden in 16 previous races. 

"Dream come true," said Canchari. "I've wanted to be a jockey my whole life and I grew up watching Oaklawn on TV and seeing all the great riders here like Calvin Borel. It's just a great feeling to win here. The second win, it was just so cool. I felt like I still had some horse left and we were able to catch them right at the wire. It was just unbelievable. I was riding for less than a week in Chicago and my agent convinced me to come down here. We've been out there hitting the barns every morning. Just trying to get on horses. He's been working really hard. I need to say thanks to everybody that's put me on horses, whether it's galloping or working. I really appreciate all the support so far."

Live racing resumes Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. first post and the feature race will be the $50,000 Dixie Belle for 3-year-old fillies. The 56-day meet runs Jan. 13 – April 14. For more information, visit www.oaklawn.com.

Quotes:

Trainer Brian Williamson, winner Color Me Blue – "This is great. We were going to bring him here last year, but he got hurt. He's been a tough horse to keep sound, but things paid off today. I just want to enjoy today, but we're here. I'd think we'd look at the next couple of races (Essex Handicap is Feb. 4 and Razorback Handicap is March 10).

Jockey Israel Ocampo, winner aboard Color Me Blue – "It was a tough finish. I was able to save ground going into the first turn and we got lucky. The horse was really game today. I was supposed to ride him a couple times in Chicago, but it didn't happen. I guess I picked the right day to ride him here."

Jockey Luis Quinonez, second aboard Twice the Appeal – "I wish the early pace had been a little quicker. He got  a little tired at the end, but still ran a big race."

Jockey Channing Hill, third aboard favorite It Happened Again – "It was a rough trip. I got shuffled back in the first turn, but he had the class to put himself back into it. He ran huge."