HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Liberal Arts is on pace to launch his 3-year-old campaign next Feb. 3 in the Grade 3, $800,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, trainer Robbie Medina said Friday. The draw for the Kentucky Derby points race will be held Sunday. The first five finishers from the 1 1/16-mile race will earn points on a scale of 20-10-6-4-2. Liberal Arts has secured 13 points so far for the Kentucky Derby and is tied for fifth on the current leader board administered by Churchill Downs. He picked up 10 of those points last out, when he won the track’s Grade 3 Street Sense on Oct. 29. “After he ran in that last race at Churchill Downs, the plan was always giving him a month off,” Medina said. “It was fortunate that he won. It made that decision a lot easier. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “I had applied for and was granted 10 stalls at Oaklawn and I just figured the best path if he was going to be that kind of horse would be through Oaklawn or Fair Grounds. The more I looked at it, Oaklawn made more sense since I was going to be stabled there.” Medina also has horses at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, Ky., and that is where Liberal Arts has prepped for the Southwest. He dodged some weather at Oaklawn, which recently lost 10 days of training. “He’s in Lexington,” Medina said. “Last week when we had the cold snap, we couldn’t go to the track for four days. But I’m in a really big barn and I was still able to jog in the barn, so it was fine.” Liberal Arts worked back Tuesday, going a half-mile in 47 seconds. It was the second fastest move at the distance from 49 that morning at the Thoroughbred Training Center. Medina said the horse galloped out five furlongs in 59.40 seconds. He is scheduled to ship here Tuesday or Wednesday. Liberal Arts won his maiden over seven furlongs at Ellis Park and proceeded to run third in the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill prior to his win in the Street Sense. Some of the runners he defeated in the Street Sense, including Gettysburg Address, are entered in Sunday races at Oaklawn. Mystik Dan is another runner on deck for the Southwest, according to his trainer, Kenny McPeek. The Oaklawn-based runner was a close fifth last out in the track’s $300,000 Smarty Jones, but has done his prep work for the Southwest at Fair Grounds. “I was able to get him out before the ice,” McPeek said of the storm that hit Arkansas. “He had a nice work [Jan. 20] and will have another work this weekend.” Mystik Dan went five-eighths in 1:02.20. The horse was a memorable maiden special weight winner in November at Churchill. Mystik Dan won a sprint by more than seven lengths and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96. McPeek said last week that Common Defense also was on deck for the Southwest. The horse was a more than three-length maiden special weight winner Jan. 13 in a mile race here. “He’s going to jump right into the deep end,” McPeek said. “He’s another horse that’s really nice. We’re coming back a little quick, but he’s fresh and seems to be doing really well.” Other potential Southwest starters include Just Steel, the runner-up in the Smarty Jones; Otto the Conqueror and Magic Grant, who finished first and second in the $300,000 Springboard Mile in December at Remington Park; Carbone and Lightline, who finished first and second in a recent allowance at Oaklawn; and Awesome Road. Otto the Conqueror earned 10 points for the Kentucky Derby with his win in the Springboard. Oaklawn moved the Southwest from Jan. 27 to next Saturday, Feb. 3 in the aftermath of the winter storm. The rescheduled race will have the same supporting stakes that were originally scheduled, including the $250,000 Martha Washington that offers points for the Kentucky Oaks. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Saratoga Secret is on deck for the Martha Washington. The daughter of the late Arrogate will be making her two-turn debut. Last year, she was second in the Grade 3 Schuylerville at Saratoga. “I wish we wouldn’t have lost Arrogate,” Lukas said. “What a sire he was going to be.” Arrogate also is the sire of Liberal Arts. McPeek said Ice Cold, the winner of the Year’s End Stakes last out at Oaklawn, will advance to the Martha Washington. Bayakoa set for Friday The winter weather stakes shuffle included the move of the Grade 3, $250,000 Bayakoa to Friday’s card. It was originally scheduled for next Saturday. A field of nine fillies and mares will go in the Bayakoa, which is one of the local preps for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap. The Bayakoa, at 1 1/16 miles, was drawn Friday. The field from the rail is The Alys Look, Ice Orchid, Misty Veil, Just Katherine, Butterbean, Comparative, Hot and Sultry, Skratch Kat, and Shotgun Hottie. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.