HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It’s all about endurance Friday at Oaklawn Park, where the annual Racing Festival of the South begins with Masqueparade stretching back out to three turns to defend his title in the $200,000 Temperence Hill. The 1 1/2-mile marathon for 4-year-olds and up is the first of six stakes to be run through Sunday, with the richest being the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday. There also are four overnight stakes, including the $145,000 LaPatourel on Friday, that help make for a total of $3.9 million in festival offerings this week. The festival continues next month with the Apple Blossom and Count Fleet on April 12 and the Oaklawn Handicap and Bathhouse Row on April 19. Masqueparade is part of a field of 11 that includes the up-and-coming Sir Greylind, stakes winner Red Run, and established marathon runner Dai Vernon. Masqueparade enters off a third-place finish in an Oaklawn allowance at 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 28. “We had him down at the Fair Grounds and he actually was training really well, but he wasn’t performing up to expectations,” trainer Rob Atras said. “They had a race up at Oaklawn, and the timing worked good for the Temperence Hill. We were trying to work back from that race, and I really needed to see a top effort and he ran a great race. He had a troubled trip and he ran really well. “I think he got back on form last time, so I’m hoping that race will set him up nicely for this one. It’s a tough field. We know he likes the distance. We know he likes Oaklawn. And he seems to be coming into the race really well.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Following last year’s Temperence Hill, Masqueparade made several starts against Next, finishing a distant second, third, and fourth to the standout marathoner, who was in the midst of a streak of seven straight stakes wins. “I’ve seen him too many times, that horse,” quipped Atras. “I like watching him run, as long as I’m not in the race against him.” Masqueparade will break from post 4 on Friday with Oaklawn’s leading rider, Cristian Torres, aboard for John Holleman. “He’s kind of a handy horse,” Atras said. “He can kind of be wherever you need him to be. He can be midpack or he can be forwardly placed, depending on the pace scenario.” Masqueparade and others in the Temperence Hill have special qualities that make them effective at marathon distances. “He has a pretty good high cruising speed and he just seems to be able to keep it going,” Atras said. “He’s got a big engine on him. He’s got a great cruising speed and he carries it. He just seems to be able to handle it. They’re kind of few and far between, these kind of horses.” Red Run is cut from the same cloth. He is moving back to the marathon ranks after running a close third and sixth in a pair of two-turn allowance routes at Oaklawn. Emmanuel Esquivel has the mount from post 9 on the son of Gun Runner. “Red Run is what’s listed as an old-fashioned stayer,” trainer Ron Moquett said. “He has that big, deep heart girth. The Gun Runner influence is there – large air capacity. And he’s just a horse that always keeps going. If he has the right pace and setup, he’s a horse that can run [them] down. He’s very much a stayer that can keep coming.” Moquett noted Red Run is the older full brother to Red Route One, who went over $2 million in earnings last weekend with his win in the Grade 3 Essex at Oaklawn. Red Run’s marathon form includes a fourth-place finish in last year’s Temperence Hill and a second- and fourth-place finish in the last two runnings of the Isaac Murphy at Churchill. He’s also been effective on turf, running a close second in a 1 3/16-mile race last summer at Saratoga. “We claimed him at Saratoga with this race in mind,” Moquett said. Sir Greylind is an allowance winner at this meet, and he’s run second in two other local starts against quality winners in Kinetic and Woodcourt. Sir Greylind will break from post 10 under Julien Leparoux. “I really like him at a mile and a half,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “I think he’ll go all day.” McPeek a factor in LaPatourel McPeek also has a top contender in the LaPatourel in Miss Hebrides. She’s part of a field of eight for the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares. Miss Hebrides has won two allowances in her last three starts during this Oaklawn meet. “She’s had a fantastic winter,” McPeek said. “I’d like to get some black type on her. She gets a good chance to do it.” Miss Hebrides owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, an 85. Leparoux has the mount from post 3. In Just My Heels also is a two-time allowance winner at the meet. Rafael Bejarano has the mount from post 4 for Moquett. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.