Saturday’s $1 million Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap heats up Hot Springs, Ark., with a fantastic field. The mile and one-eighth test matches some of the best runners in the Breeders’ Cup Classic division in an early season showdown. Five millionaire-plus earners are among the field of seven.

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Let’s Meet the Contenders for the Oaklawn Handicap:

#1 Rated R Superstar (David Cabrera // Martin Villafranco)
Venerable 10-year-old looks to make history. In the last 50 years, the oldest Oaklawn Handicap winner has been age 6. This is his fourth attempt at this race, finishing off the board in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The gelding has not won in 3 starts at the current meet, failing to defend his 2022 titles in the Fifth Season and Essex en route to the Oaklawn Handicap. He gets in light at 116 pounds, in receipt of 6-7 pounds from the favorites.

#2 Last Samurai (Cristian Torres // D. Wayne Lukas)
Last year’s winner looks to become the first repeat Oaklawn Handicap champ since Gay Revoke in 1964-’65 and just the second ever. He has changed barns since the 2022 score from Dallas Stewart to Stewart’s old boss, Lukas – who is a 4-time winner of this race. Last Samurai won the current meet’s 2 big preps for the Oaklawn Handicap, the Grade 3 Razorback and Grade 3 Essex and is 2-for-2 since Torres took over in the saddle. Torres currently is the leading jockey at the Oaklawn meet and poised for his first local title.

#3 Stilleto Boy (Kent Desormeaux // Ed Moger Jr.) * pictured above *
The 2023 Santa Anita Handicap winner edged Proxy by a neck last out in what was a home game for the former. Now they’ll re-match on a neutral field of sorts, though Stilleto Boy will be making his fifth start at Oaklawn. He was locally based in 2021 when with previous trainer Doug Anderson. The son of Preakness winner Shackleford opened his season third in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup, his second straight year doing so in Gulfstream’s winter showcase. Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux won the 1992 and 1994 editions of the Oaklawn Handicap aboard superstars Best Pal and The Wicked North.

#4 Proxy (Joel Rosario // Michael Stidham)
Just missed by a rallying neck in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap behind Oaklawn Handicap rival Stilleto Boy. Churchill Downs’ Grade 1 Clark Handicap winner from November makes his first venture to Arkansas. The Clark was his first win at this mile and one-eighth distance after 6 previous defeats. This is a supremely bred son of super sire Tapit and Panty Raid, winner of the Black-Eyed Susan, American Oaks and Spinster Stakes on dirt, turf and synthetic. Jockey Joel Rosario returns to Oaklawn from Keeneland for a second straight Saturday, winning last week’s Grade 1 $1 million Apple Blossom with a furious finish aboard Clairiere to nip favorite Secret Oath.

#5 Senor Buscador (Ricardo Santana Jr. // Todd Fincher)
This 2022 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile alum seeks the biggest score of his career in his first foray to Oaklawn. The Grade 3 Ack Ack winner at Churchill has run most of his flashiest races around one turn. He did win two-turn tests in Remington Park’s Sprinboard Mile in 2020 and last out in the Curribot Stakes at his Sunland Park home base. Jockey Santana won this race in 2021 aboard Silver State.

#6 Classic Causeway (Francisco Arrieta // Kenny McPeek)
Front-running colt has had major successes on dirt and turf, winning the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby and Grade 1 Belmont Derby last year on each surface. Versatile like his sire Giant’s Causeway, a multiple Group 1 winner on turf and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on dirt, Classic Causeway will be in receipt of 3-5 pounds on the handicap weights compared to some of Saturday’s favorites. Jockey Francisco Arrieta is second in the Oaklawn season standings, within striking distance of title leader Cristian Torres.

#7 Charge It (Luis Saez // Todd Pletcher)
Two-time Oaklawn Handicap winner Pletcher ships this colt from his Florida base and adds blinkers for the road test. The Tapit colt was runner-up in last year’s Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park at this same mile and one-eighth distance. After a nightmarish trip in the Kentucky Derby, he blitzed his Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes rivals by 23 lengths in July at Belmont before going to the sidelines. Charge It has an allowance win and runner-up in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile on his resume since returning. His second dam (maternal grandmother) Take Charge Lady was runner-up by a head to the great Azeri in a thrilling renewal of Oaklawn’s Grade 1 Apple Blossom Stakes in 2003.