HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Payne is a 10-year-old going on 4.
He is unbeaten this year in four starts. He is coming off a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 101. And he was claimed out of that race for $50,000 – the second time he’s been haltered this year after being taken for $20,000 in February.
For all of those reasons, Payne figures to be a strong favorite Friday when he starts in the second race at Oaklawn Park. He’s part of a field of seven for the $20,000 starter allowance for 4-year-olds and up over six furlongs.
The race is one of the reasons trainer David Jacobson claimed Payne on behalf of owner Robert Proulx.
“When we claimed him, the $20,000 starter was in the book,” he said. “I knew that race was there.”
Jacobson said claiming a 10-year-old for $50,000 is hardly his normal modus operandi, but Payne is not your average horse. The son of Paynter began his career in September of 2017 at Churchill Downs. He’s made at least one start every year since, for a total of 46 outs that have resulted in 12 wins, 10 seconds, and six third-place finishes for earnings of $813,686.
Payne has been sold at auction four times, changed hands via the claim box five times, and has been conditioned by eight different trainers. He is a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Vertical Oak and he is the chief earner for his stakes-winning dam, Vertical Vision.
“He’s just so consistent you can’t go wrong,” Jacobson said. “I don’t know how long he’s going to keep it up, but if we can just keep him up for a little while more, he’s having a great time. He’s happy. He looks as good as he’s ever looked. I’ve been watching that horse on and off for years, and you know, he’s doing great. I look forward to a big effort from him on Friday.”
Jacobson was asked if he had to shake for the 10-year-old gelding when he dropped for $50,000.
“No – nobody’s crazy enough,” he quipped.
But make no mistake, Jacobson is happy to have Payne in his barn, which includes last weekend’s Grade 3, $500,000 Oaklawn Mile winner Banishing.
“I have him in the stall right next to Banishing,” Jacobson said. “He’s in that league, like just a special horse.”
Jacobson had entered Payne in the Oaklawn Mile, but scratched in favor of his regular one-turn trip Friday.
“I was considering running him in the stakes because he won four races at a mile,” Jacobson said. “It was going back a ways. It doesn’t show in the recent chart.”
What does show is a horse who has won his last four races by a combined 12 lengths, with three of those wins coming in six-furlong races that went in 1:09 and change. Payne brings a substantial closing kick to the table. He will break from post 3 under Ramon Vazquez.
The chief threats in the field of seven appear to be front runners G T Five Hundred and Sitka.
As for Banishing, Jacobson said he remains on deck for the Grade 1, $1 million Churchill Downs, a seven-furlong race May 3.
“Right now, I’m staying to the end at Oaklawn.” Jacobson said. “The horses that aren’t going to run here, like Banishing, are going to be leaving in the next couple of days or so [for Churchill].”
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