Oaklawn Stakes Advance – $150,000 Tinsel Stakes

Stakes Advance – $150,000 Tinsel Stakes
Compiled by Robert Yates

Contact: Chris Ho Vice President of Marketing

cho@oaklawn.com, 501-623-4411 ext. 4201

Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025


$150,000 Tinsel Stakes

Millionaire Grade 1 winner Rattle N Roll will make his Oaklawn debut in Saturday’s $150,000 Tinsel Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles.

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

The Tinsel marks significant class relief for Rattle N Roll, a 6-year-old son of Connect who hasn’t competed in a non-graded race since winning the St. Louis Derby in August 2022 at Fairmount Park.

A Grade 1 winner as a 2-year-old for trainer Kenny McPeek, Rattle N Roll has earned $3,548,941 off a 10-3-3 record from 29 lifetime starts. Rattle N Roll’s stout resume includes nine stakes victories, seven graded, and three starts earlier this year in the Middle East. Rattle N Roll finished fifth in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) and eighth in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1).

Rattle N Roll exits a disappointing fifth-place finish in the Clark Stakes (G2), a 1 1/8-mile race he won in 2024, at Churchill Downs. Rattle N Roll, a late runner, is a three-time stakes winner at 1 1/8 miles in the United States.

“Should be his race for the taking, if all goes well,” McPeek said. “The pace of the race matters for him. He won’t have it easy, but it should be a race that he should be able to get done.”

McPeek has tapped Hall of Fame jockey Joel Rosario to ride Rattle N Roll, who is scheduled to break from post 7 in the projected seven-horse field. Rosario rode Rattle N Roll, the 8-5 program favorite, to a Group 3 victory last January in Saudi Arabia.

The Tinsel is a local prep for the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles April 18.

“I’d love to think we could get him to the Oaklawn Handicap,” McPeek said. “There’s a chance he could go to Saudi Arabia after this race.”

Dimatic, Woodcourt, Mackman, Willy D’s, Runaway Again and Money Supply are also entered in the Tinsel.

The speedy Willy D’s (9-5) is winless in nine career starts at Oaklawn, but he finished second in the Charles Town Classic (G2) at 1 1/8 miles Aug. 22 at Charles Town for trainer Mike Maker.

Dimatic won the Zia Park Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles in 2024 at Zia Park for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Woodcourt finished eighth behind Dimatic in the Zia Park Derby and exits another eighth in the Zia Park Championship Stakes at 1 1/16 miles Nov. 25 for co-owner/trainer Cipriano Contreras.

“We’ve learned he doesn’t like that track,” co-owner Staton Flurry of Hot Springs said of Woodcourt. “He ran the exact same race he did last year. He won’t be going back to Zia.”

Woodcourt owns two career victories at Oaklawn and finished fourth in its $1.25 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles in 2024.