Compiled by Robert Yates

One constant in Kelly Bainum’s training career is that her 335 career starts have all come far, far away from Oaklawn.

That should change this weekend because Bainum has two horses entered at Oaklawn – Helen’s Revenge in Friday’s fifth race and Gun Runner Charlie, who is scheduled to make his career debut in Saturday’s seventh race, a $110,000 maiden special weight sprint for 2-year-olds.

Previously based on the West Coast, Bainum is wintering in Hot Springs for the first time in 2024-2025. But there’s a catch. Bainum said she was at Oaklawn in 2021-2022, working for trainer Rene Amescua, a stint that sparked an interest in possibly returning one day.

“I just fell in love with the town and the people,” Bainum said. “I thought it was the greatest place ever, and I like cold.”

Bainum is back, this time as boss, with around eight horses stabled in the Havre de Grace barn. Bainum’s geographical training resume is straightforward. She’s only started horses in California, her native Arizona and at Assiniboia Downs in Canada, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization.

Following a 12-year training sabbatical because she said she was “fed up” with some things, Bainum has won 17 races the last two years. Her 10 victories this year include four at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, two at Del Mar, one at Santa Anita, another Southern California heavyweight venue, and one at the now-defunct Golden Gate Fields in northern California.

Bainum said the rocky racing landscape in California and Arizona, coupled with a summer recruiting pitch by Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope triggered the move east.

“I’ve always been on the West Coast,” Bainum said. “I mean, racing on the West Coast is going nowhere fast. I just want to see what’s out there. I don’t know about the summers here. I heard they’re pretty rough in the Midwest. Ideally, in a perfect world, you could do Oaklawn and go to Del Mar.”

Bainum said her stable leans on claimers, but added she is high on a couple of young horses. One is Gun Runner Charlie, a gelded son of 2017 Horse of the Year and super sire Gun Runner.

Gun Runner Charlie, purchased for $170,000 earlier this year, has eight published workouts since Oct. 14 – five at Santa Anita and three at Oaklawn.

“He’s been ready for a while,” Bainum said. “I was going to run him a mile, but I’m like: ‘Um, that’s kind of asking too much,’ ”

Another Bainum trainee is Eastside Cool, claimed out of a third-place finish Oct. 6 at Santa Anita for $25,000. Eastside Cool is a six-time Oaklawn winner.

“That’s the whole reason we claimed him,” Bainum said. “I was like: ‘Look at this horse. No one’s going to take him and he loves Oaklawn.’ He’s a cool daddy.”

Bainum said she planned to return to Oaklawn last season, but didn’t have enough horses. Now, she’s looking to build on 50 career victories, the first coming in 2002.

“I wanted to wait until I had decent enough horses,” Bainum said. “(Pope) was there at Del Mar. He said: ‘Come on.’ I was like: ‘OK.’ So, he gave me stalls and here I am.”

Finish Lines

Happy Is a Choice earned a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 99 for his neck victory in the $150,000 Ring the Bell Stakes Saturday at Oaklawn. Next-race plans are pending, trainer John Ortiz said Sunday morning, adding Happy Is a Choice emerged from his victory in “really good” shape. … Jenkin ($32.20) represented the record-extending 295^th career Oaklawn victory for owner John Ed Anthony in last Friday’s eighth race, a $110,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies at one mile. Jenkin, a daughter of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, was making her two-turn debut for trainer Lindsay Schultz. … Kenny McPeek, Oaklawn’s second-leading trainer last season, is the special guest on “Oaklawn Raceday,” hosted by Justin Acri and David Longinotti, director of Oaklawn Anywhere, and Equibase representative Jeff Taylor. It can be heard Saturdays, 11 a.m.-11:30 a.m. (Central), during the 2024-2025 meeting on Little Rock, AR, radio station KABZ-FM 103.7 and www.1037thebuzz.com. McPeek won the 2024 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks with Oaklawn stakes winners Mystik Dan and Thorpedo Anna, respectively.