2025.12.11 Oaklawn Racing Updates; Ring The Bell Advance

Racing Updates
Compiled by Robert Yates

Thursday, Dec. 10, 2025

Jockey Francisco Arrieta wore out his right arm during the final 1 ½ months of the 62-day Oaklawn meeting in 2024-2025, parlaying a scorching stretch of success into his second local riding title.

Arrieta raises his right arm and points his right index finger to the sky following each victory. He did that often over the final 23 days of racing last season at Oaklawn, riding 41 winners to finish with a meet-high 65. Two-time defending champion Cristian Torres was second with 62 victories.

Arrieta had 12 multi-win days during the stretch, highlighted by five victories March 14 to equal a career high. Arrieta entered March 14 (Day 40) with only 24 victories at the meeting. Arrieta stormed to the top (he won 25 percent of his final 167 mounts) after splitting with his longtime agent, Jay Fedor, and hiring Cody Autrey, who represents Torres.

“Some days you’re up, some days you’re down,” Arrieta said. “Thank God we were able to keep it going.”

Arrieta capped the 2024-2025 Oaklawn meeting with a closing-day triple May 3 to break a 62-62 tie with Torres, who was riding at Churchill Downs. Arrieta clinched the outright title with a victory aboard Where’s Randy in the second race. Arrieta also won the fourth race aboard Darrow and the 12th and final race, the 1 ¾-mile Trail’s End marathon, aboard Nepal Up.

The only closing-day downer, Arrieta said, was a runner-up finish aboard 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan in the 11th race, the $200,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes for older horses at 1 1/16 miles. Mystik Dan, in a stirring stretch duel, was beaten a nose by millionaire Grade 1 winner Saudi Crown to deny Arrieta a 10th stakes victory at the meeting. Arrieta picked up the mount because Brian Hernandez Jr., Mystik Dan’s regular rider, had commitments that day at Churchill Downs.

“I was a little sad when I ran second with the Derby winner,” Arrieta said. “I wasn’t too happy that day. Thank God I got an opportunity to ride him back and win with him.”

Arrieta was referring to the $500,000 G2-Lukas Classic Sept. 27 at Churchill Downs. Subbing for an injured Hernandez, Arrieta guided Mystik Dan to a three-quarter length victory over Disarm. The Lukas Classic marked the most lucrative career North American victory to date for Arrieta, a native of Venezuela who began riding in the United States in 2012.

“That was amazing,” Arrieta said of regaining the mount. “I wasn’t expecting that at all. But I got the opportunity and we won the Lukas Classic.”

Arrieta returns to Oaklawn after winning seven races at the recently concluded Churchill Downs fall meet. Arrieta is now represented by newcomer Kevin Meyocks, who also books mounts at Gulfstream Park for his brother-in-law, Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, and Emisael Jaramillo. Meyocks began working for Arrieta in late August.

“We’re trying to ride a little bit for everybody,” Meyocks said. “All doors are open and we’re just trying to find the right horses.”

Arrieta has 309 career Oaklawn victories, all since 2021. Fedor cold called the jockey and convinced him to move his tack from Fair Grounds to Oaklawn shortly before the 2021 meeting began. Arrieta won 50 races at the 2021 Oaklawn meeting and 62 in 2021-2022 to share the title with David Cabrera.

Arrieta’s drive for a third Oaklawn riding championship begins Friday, Day 1 of the 64-day split season.

“We’re working hard, trying to see everybody, letting them know we’re here,” Arrieta said. “We’re ready to have success.”

Arrieta recorded his 1,000th career North American victory Dec. 28, 2024, at Oaklawn.

Rosado Looks to Make Mark

Although jockey Johan Rosado is an Oaklawn newcomer, his agent Ruben Munoz isn’t.

Munoz brought jockey Gabriel Saez to Oaklawn in 2007, then teamed to win eight Oaklawn riding titles with Ricardo Santana Jr. (2013-2018, 2020 and 2021). Citing the need for a “peace and serenity break,” Munoz split with Santana last May. Now, Munoz is back in the game with Rosado, 27, whose 343 career victories have all come in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Munoz said he paired with Rosado on the recommendation of retired Hall of Fame jockey Ramon Dominguez.

“Ramon Dominguez was the one that called me and like pretty much told me that I needed to take this kid,” said Munoz, who traveled to Europe during his down time. “He called me maybe a month and a half ago, a month ago. A retired jockey from Florida, Jose Rivera II, has been after me for two years to take him. These are people that I respect.”

Rosado, who is originally from Puerto Rico, began riding in the United States in 2017. Rosado has 183 career victories at Laurel in Maryland, his previous base. Rosado is the son of retired jockey Roberto Rosado, an Eclipse Award winner in 1997 as North America’s co-outstanding apprentice.

“I was taught by my father,” Johan Rosado said. “My father rode for about 25 years. I started out at Parx in Pennsylvania, started my bug there. I went to Maryland and liked it. I stayed there quite a while.”

Munoz said he wanted to bring Rosado to Oaklawn because his business had become stale in Maryland. Oaklawn, Munoz said, represents a career reset for the jockey.

“He can ride,” Munoz said. “He’s a little bit tall, but he sits great on a horse.”

Tapping into Munoz’s strong local connections, Rosado has already been well-received at Oaklawn. He is named on 11 horses over the first three days of racing, including six for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Santana was once Asmussen’s go-to rider.

“It’s great,” Rosado said of working with Munoz. “We see everybody. Everybody likes us. Everybody’s being nice to us, so that’s a good sign.”

Finish Lines

Oaklawn’s annual price-rollback promotion is Saturday. Two corned beef sandwiches and one soft drink are $1. Gates open Saturday at 11 a.m. (Central), with first post 12:30 p.m. … Trainers Mike Maker and Dallas Stewart have stalls in the Royal Glint barn, longtime Oaklawn home of the late Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Maker and Stewart are both former assistants under Lukas, who died in June. … Cognizant, a 2-year-old half-sister to millionaire Grade 3 winner Disarm, is scheduled to make her career debut in Friday’s seventh race for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Cognizant is from the first crop of Silver State, Asmussen’s millionaire multiple Oaklawn stakes winner. … Owner John Ed Anthony (Shortleaf Stable) has two horses entered Friday at Oaklawn, where he has a record 299 career victories. Anthony, an Arkansas lumberman, has Rift entered in the seventh race for trainer John Ortiz and Brunia entered in the 10th race for trainer Lindsay Schultz. … A double Wednesday night at Turfway Park pushed trainer Genaro Garcia’s career North American total to 991, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. Garcia has a division of horses at Oaklawn, where he has 45 career victories.

Stakes Advance – $150,000 Ring the Bell Stakes
Compiled by Robert Yates


$150,000 Ring the Bell Stakes

Two starters in the G1-Breeders’ Cup Sprint, local sensation Skelly and Banishing, headline the $150,000 Ring the Bell Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs Saturday at Oaklawn.

Probable post time for the Ring the Bell, the eighth of 10 races, is 3:52 p.m. CDT. Racing begins at 12:30 p.m.

Skelly is bidding for a record-tying seventh career Oaklawn stakes victory and a record-extending 11th consecutive victory overall in Hot Springs.

Skelly emerged as a top sprinter during the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting with victories in the $500,000 G3-Count Fleet Sprint Handicap and Lake Hamilton Stakes. During the 2023-2024 Oaklawn meeting, Skelly won the King Cotton Stakes, Count Fleet and Lake Hamilton.

After finishing 10th in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Skelly returned to win an April allowance race at Oaklawn by 5 ¼ lengths. He then romped by 10 ½ lengths in the Lake Hamilton May 2, covering six furlongs over a sloppy, sealed surface in 1:08.15, just off the 1:07.80 track record.

Skelly, however, is winless in his last three starts, including a sixth-place finish in his last race, the six-furlong G2-Phoenix Stakes Oct. 3 at Keeneland.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said Skelly, a 6-year-old Practical Joke gelding, is at a crossroad in his 24-race career because of gate trouble that has resurfaced in his last three races, sluggish starts that have impacted his freakish natural early speed.

Skelly (5-2 on the morning line) will be reunited with jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. in the Ring the Bell, which drew a field of eight. Skelly is scheduled to break from post 4.

“Getting away from the gates,” Asmussen said, pinpointing Skelly’s recent struggles. “It was there before and now it’s come back.”

All 10 of Skelly’s Oaklawn’s victories have been at six furlongs, and with Santana in the irons. Swift Ruler and champion Whitmore share the Oaklawn record for career stakes victories with seven.

Banishing (3-1) starred at the 2024-2025 Oaklawn meeting for trainer David Jacobson, posting a 3-2-0 record from five starts and earning $765,875.

Banishing opened with victories in a December allowance race and the inaugural $145,000 Byerley Turk Overnight Stakes – both at six furlongs – before capturing the $500,000 G3-Oaklawn Mile March 29.

Banishing added victories in the Jeff Hall Memorial Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs July 20 at Ellis Park and the G2-Charles Town Classic at 1 1/8 miles Aug. 22 at Charles Town. He exits a 12th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at six furlongs Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

“He’s doing great,” Jacobson said. “Starting over, like we did last year.”

The 2-1 program favorite is Roll On Big Joe for trainer Bob Hess Jr. Roll On Big Joe exits a 4 ½-length victory in the six-fulrong Bet On Sunshine Stakes Nov. 1 at Churchill Downs. Roll On Big Joe is cross-entered in Saturday’s $250,000 Holiday Cheer Stakes at Turfway Park.

Millionaire multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Tejano Twist and the Jacobson-trained Durante are also entered in the Ring the Bell. Durante was an upset winner over Skelly in the six-furlong G3-Aristides Stakes May 31 at Churchill Downs.

“I have a strong entry,” Jacobson said.

Second I D, Ghost of Midnight and Spankster complete the projected field.