HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – A berth into the Preakness Stakes will be on offer Saturday at Oaklawn Park in the $200,000 Bath House Row, which has drawn Triple Crown nominees Informed Patriot and Imperial Gun from the barn of local leading trainer Steve Asmussen. The 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds is the first of three stakes to be run consecutively on a 12-race card, led by the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap. The Preakness berth goes to the Bath House Row winner, provided the horse is nominated to the Triple Crown. Asmussen won last year’s Bath House Row with Red Route One, who went on to run fourth in the Preakness. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Informed Patriot will start as a chief contender Saturday. He already has some stakes credentials, as he was third in the Grade 3 Street Sense last fall at Churchill Downs, and also ran third in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn. Informed Patriot exits a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby on March 30. “It was good effort, but we need better,” Asmussen said. “He ran solid, attended a pretty good pace, and I thought he did well. We need to do better.” Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount on the full brother to Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Spun to Run for J. Kirk and Judy Robison. The horse will break from post 4 in the field of eight Saturday. Imperial Gun is in post 3. Joel Rosario, who won this race last year, has the mount for Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud. Imperial Gun was an impressive maiden special weight winner in December and is coming off an eighth-place finish in the Arkansas Derby in which he got swept up in a costly incident that led to the disqualification of one of his rivals, Liberal Arts. “He got completely eliminated by Liberal Arts when they lined out down the backside,” Asmussen said. “He got completely taken out of the race, so that’s why he deserves another chance.” Asmussen, who is seeking to win his ninth stakes at the meet, is chasing his third Bath House Row. Trainer Brad Cox also has won two runnings of the Bath House Row and will be represented Saturday by impressive maiden winner Militant. He scored by a length over 1 1/16 miles last out, on the undercard of the Arkansas Derby. Cox looks forward to moving to 1 1/8 miles Saturday. “I really like the distance with him based off what we saw from him last time, and pedigree,” Cox said. “It’s only the third run of his life, but [Flavien Prat], who rode him last time, indicated maybe the longer the better. So, a little longer, here we are.” Florent Geroux has the mount from post 5. Willy D’s is picking up more ground off a troubled trip at a mile last out at Oaklawn. One start prior he was second in a 1 1/16-mile allowance over the local strip in March. “Honestly, I thought he probably should have won that race,” said trainer Greg Compton. “He got in so much trouble going into the first turn. “He’s a nice horse. He’s a useful horse. I think he’s going to be getting better through the summer. He’s just a true two-turn horse.” Triple Crown nominee Count Dracula will get good support as he picks up more ground off a runner-up finish in a mile allowance. One start prior, Count Dracula was stakes-placed at 1 1/16 miles, in the Black Gold at Fair Grounds. Valley of the Vapors Neom Beach will be looking for her first stakes win after some close calls when she returns to stakes competition for the $200,000 Valley of the Vapors. The one-mile race is for 3-year-old fillies. Neom Beach had placed in two stakes and ran fourth in the Grade 3 Honeybee, prior to taking a first-level allowance in her most recent out, March 29 at Oaklawn. She will break from the rail in the field of 11 in the Valley of the Vapors. “I love the spot for her, coming off a well-deserved win,” Asmussen said. “She’d run hard in some tough races, so I was just really happy to see her win last time out. We’ll see what we can do with it from there.” Rosario has the mount for Bloom Racing Stable and The Line Racing. Blue Squall is making the move to two turns for the first time off a runner-up finish in the Purple Martin last month at Oaklawn. Prior to that race, she was a maiden winner over Lemon Muffin, who came back in her next start to capture the Honeybee. Blue Squall will break from post 3 under Cristian Torres. “We want to see if she can get the distance,” said trainer Randy Morse. “She acts like she would be able to, but you never know until you try them. I thought it was a good spot to try her and she got lucky and drew a decent post.” Candy Aisle is looking for her fourth stakes win Saturday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.