2026.10.8 Oaklawn Racing Update

Racing Updates
Compiled by Robert Yates

Contact: Chris Ho Vice President of Marketing

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

Thursday, Oct 8, 2026

Jockey Ramon Vazquez, Oaklawn’s leading rider last season, enters Thursday with 3,998 career North American victories (United States and Puerto Rico), according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization.

Vazquez is named on 12 horses over the next four days, including 10 at Remington Park where he is based. Vazquez has 548 career victories at Oaklawn. He won 76 races last season to capture his first career riding title in Hot Springs. Vazquez has also topped the standings at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos in Southern California, Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Lone Star Park in suburban Dallas and Prairie Meadows in Iowa.



Vazquez, 42, won approximately 1,500 races in his native Puerto Rico before he began riding regularly in the United States in 2011. Vazquez rode his first career Oaklawn winner Jan. 13, 2012.

Finish Lines

Oaklawn’s stable area opens Oct. 15. The track opens for training Oct. 21 in advance of the 2026-2027 meeting (Nov. 27-May 1). … Oaklawn allowance winner Little Miss Curlin (#7, 6/1) is entered in the Magnolia Stakes for Louisiana-bred fillies and mares, 3 and up, at 7 furlongs Friday at Delta Downs. … Oaklawn stakes winner Lambeth (#13, 4/1) is entered in the Sycamore Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 ½ miles on the turf Friday at Keeneland. … Oaklawn stakes winner Calibrate (#3, 10/1), Oaklawn-raced Awesome Road (#4, 15/1) and Ocelot (#8, 20/1) are entered in the Downs At Albuquerque Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles Saturday at Albuquerque. … Oaklawn-raced Dazzling Move (#8, 6/1) is entered in the Silver Creek Stakes for Ontario-bred older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Woodbine. … Multiple Oaklawn allowance winner Itzel (#2, 20/1) is entered in the Franklin Stakes (G2) for fillies and mares, 3 and up, at 5 ½ furlongs on the turf Sunday at Keeneland. … Sandman, winner of the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) in 2025 at Oaklawn, was retired following a sixth-place finish in an allowance race last Sunday at Belmont Park. Sandman was making his first start since a sixth-place finish in the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) Feb. 28 at Oaklawn for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Sandman collected $1,547,831 in career earnings after winning 3 of 15 starts. The 4-year-old gray son of Tapit also finished a troubled second in Oaklawn’s $1 million Southwest Stakes (G3) and third in the Preakness Stakes – the second leg of the Triple Crown – in 2025. A $1.2 million 2-year-old purchase, Sandman will begin a stallion career in 2027 at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, N.Y. His stud fee will be $10,000. The deal was announced in September.