HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Ernie Witt II’s bread and butter throughout much of his career has been Arkansas-bred runners like Truly a Rocket, who meets winners for the first time in the Sunday allowance feature at Oaklawn Park. But the makeup of his barn is changing some. “We usually have almost all Arkie-breds,” he said, “but we kind of branched out and are maybe half and half now – half Arkansas-breds and half Kentucky-breds. We’ve gone out and bought some from the sales, kind of spread out that way.” Truly a Rocket is part of a field of 12 for the eighth race, which is a first-level allowance for fillies and mares bred in Arkansas. It is for 3-year-olds and up and will be run over six furlongs. Truly a Rocket was a winner at the distance last out. She broke on top in a maiden special weight for 3-year-old fillies bred in Arkansas, set a pressured pace, and prevailed by a neck in the Jan. 7 sprint at Oaklawn. :: Want to start playing with a $510 bankroll and have access to free Formulator? Learn more “She’s a Laurie’s Rocket, which means she’s fast,” Witt said. “At least the Laurie’s Rockets I’ve had have been fast. It’s just a matter of how far they’ll carry their speed. That’s something you don’t know about her, is whether she can be tactical or not. “I was proud of her. She took the heat pretty much all the whole way around. Now, when we jump up into older horses, the pace gets a little different. The heat is a little different. We’re hoping she can be tactical with her speed, and not just kind of a one-trick” pony. Witt said ideally he would prefer a straight 3-year-old race for Truly a Rocket, but that option was not available for this Arkansas-bred condition. Down the road, Truly a Rocket could return to racing with straight 3-year-old fillies in the $150,000 Rainbow Miss on April 9 at Oaklawn. “Assuming all is well and she stays healthy then yes, it’s probably going to be in her future,” Witt said. “It’s probably the only race we’ll get against straight 3-year-olds.” Truly a Rocket races for an ownership group that includes Robert Tucker. She will break from post 4 under Alex Canchari. Witt, 51, grew up in Ozark, Ark. He won his first race as a trainer on May 15, 2007, at Canterbury, according to Daily Racing Form records. Witt has 12 horses at Oaklawn and another 10 at a local training center. His barn includes fillies by The Factor, Liam’s Map, and Mineshaft. Kaboom Baby is an Arkansas-bred who is coming off a runner-up finish in an open-company allowance for which she earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 81. “I think this is potentially the best stable I’ve had,” Witt said. “A lot of things have got to work out, but top to bottom as far as quality of horses, this would probably be my best.” Witt is off to a fast start at Oaklawn, going 3 for 12. In addition to Truly a Rocket, he had another Arkansas-debut winner earlier in the meet in Doc Irwin. Witt’s other victory came with Nisi Prius, who won a $50,000 conditioned claiming race Jan. 15. “We’ve still got quite a few that haven’t started,” Witt said. Truly a Rocket’s rivals Sunday include fellow 3-year-old filly Kantex, five-time winner Willow Moon, and three-time winner Tapit Right.