HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Gar Hole will get away from Gunite on Saturday, when he returns to the Arkansas-bred ranks for the $150,000 Nodouble at Oaklawn Park. The race is one of two six-furlong stakes on the card for 3-year-olds and up bred in Arkansas. Connie K defends her title in the offering for fillies and mares, the $150,000 Downthedustyroad. Gar Hole won last year’s Nodouble and will likely be favored to do so again off his brave fourth-place finish to Grade 1 winner Gunite in the King Cotton on Jan. 28 at Oaklawn. Gar Hole set fractions of 22.43 seconds for the opening quarter and 45.48 in the six-furlong race that Gunite won in a blazing 1:08.89. John Velazquez was aboard Gar Hole and told trainer John Ortiz that he respected the horse’s effort in the King Cotton. “Johnny came back and he was like, ‘This horse can run,’ ” Ortiz said. “He said ‘I thought we were running and I looked up and got passed and said how fast are those horses going – because we were rolling.’ ” :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play with FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic.  Gunite earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 104 and went on to run second to champion Elite Power in the $1.5 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint last Saturday. Gar Hole, who was beaten six lengths in the King Cotton, has since been awaiting the Nodouble. He will break from post 7 in the field of eight. Ricardo Santana Jr., who was aboard Gar Hole for a Jan. 1 allowance win at Oaklawn, has the mount for Shortleaf Stable. “This year, I feel like he’s only improving after each start,” Ortiz said of Gar Hole. Navy Seal, an allowance winner at the meet, and Bandit Point, a multiple stakes-placed runner who has earned more than $500,000, are other top contenders in the Nodouble. Connie K will attempt to keep trainer Randy Morse’s roll with Arkansas-breds going this meet at Oaklawn. Last month, he won four Arkansas-bred races, including two in the last week. “Before the meet started, I thought we had the best group of Arkansas-breds we’ve ever had,” Morse said. “It started out slow, but it’s starting to pick up now.” Connie K, a five-time winner, is moving back into Arkansas-bred company after a start in the American Beauty on Jan. 21 at Oaklawn. She broke from the rail and set a quick pace before finishing fifth. For the Downthedustyroad, she will break from post 6 in a nine-horse field that includes recent allowance winners Unbridled Twister, Summer Shoes, and Run Fearless. “There’s some tough ones in there,” Morse said. Rafael Bejarano has the mount on Connie K. “She’s got natural speed,” Morse said. “She’ll pretty much do what you want to do with her.” Connie K leads the field in earnings with more than $350,000. She’s already a sentimental favorite for Morse, who named her to honor his late aunt, Connie K. Vincent. “She was like our second mother,” Morse said. Morse co-owns and co-bred Connie K with Randy Patterson. The mare is by Street Strategy, winner of the Fifth Season at Oaklawn, and out of Indian Clarkie, who won a maiden special weight at Oaklawn in 2013. Both horses were trained by Morse. “Her mother was a really kind horse, wouldn’t hurt anything,” Morse said. “She was just a sweetheart to be around.” Much like Aunt Connie, Morse said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.