Oaklawn Barn Notes: Green Making Herself Known with Successful Oaklawn Meet

By Robert Yates —-

Green Making Herself Known with Successful Oaklawn Meet

Aidan Green has made a name for herself this year at Oaklawn. Emphasis on “her.”

In what has become a running joke, Green noted that some people have praised the trainer for “his” snowballing success during the 51-day meeting that ends May 1. Perhaps, the confusion abated somewhat last Friday when Green saddled her first career stakes winner (Blame J D) in the $150,000 Rainbow for 3-year-old Arkansas-bred sprinters.

“I hope so,” Green, 33, said with a laugh. “That might have been the win to do it.”

The Rainbow marked the eighth career winner for Green – all this year at Oaklawn – and placed her in a tie for 11th in the local standings through Sunday. She also had five seconds and seven thirds from just 31 starters.

Green began the meeting with four horses, but her stable has grown to approximately 10 through claims. Green saddled her first career winner recognized by Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization, Feb. 11 with one-time Triple Crown hopeful Kristo. It was the 21st recognized starter for Green, who saddled her first horse in 2020, according to Equibase.

Green’s unquestioned star is Blame J D, a gelded son of champion Blame for local breeder/owner James W. Matheney Jr. Blame J D has a 2-0-1 record in four career starts at the meeting and bankrolled $155,050.

“He’s as good as I’ve had so far,” Green said. “As an Arkie-bred, he hasn’t shown any weaknesses, really.”

Blame J D was broken by Green’s husband/assistant, Ike Green, who has 98 career training victories, the last coming in 2014, according to Equibase. Green also unearthed and broke multiple Grade 1 winner and 2018 Triple Crown hopeful Bolt d’Oro when working for former business associate Mick Ruis.

Green assisted trainer Robertino Diodoro the last two years at Oaklawn, helping him capture his first local title in 2020 and Diodoro’s major client, M and M Racing (Mike and Mickala Sisk), set a single-season Oaklawn record for victories by an owner with 61 in 2019. Green, among other things, also breaks horses for a local pinhooking group and hauls horses for M and M.

Aidan Green’s high winning percentage coincides with having three young children, handling administrative issues for Diodoro (licensing, reservations, etc.) and dabbling in professional photography (she’s booked four weddings this year).

“Kids and horses, that’s all we do,” Ike Green said. “That’s it.”

Aidan Green grew up in Canada around Quarter-Horses and draft horses her family owned and was a star volleyball player. She signed with Texas Tech before transferring to Texas-El Paso, where she was a four-year letterman (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009). Green said she met her future husband in 2010 when he was training at Sunland Park in suburban El Paso. They married in 2013 and have three children – Olivia, 5; Owen, 4; and Oakley, 6 months.

As many races as Aidan Green has won this year at Oaklawn, it might seem like she’s raising her kids in the Larry Snyder Winner’s Circle. Normally after each victory, Green has her picture taken holding Oakley, with Olivia and Owen standing directly behind her on a platform.

“Our kids are pretty infamous back here, but anybody outside of the backside probably doesn’t know or think that I have three,” Green said. “The other day, Olivia and Owen were standing on the edge of the paddock rail and this lady walked up and said, ‘Where is your guys’ mom?’ And they’re like, ‘In there.’ She thought they were on their own.”

If she’s not saddling a horse or visiting the winner’s circle, you might see Aidan Green, between races, carrying Oakley or pushing him in a stroller. The spirited Olivia and Owen could be racing or playing on the first floor of the grandstand or grandstand apron, often interacting with Diodoro and some of his employees.

“Don’t get wrong, they’re good kids,” Diodoro said. “But they’re wild suckers. They’re not the typical kids, get them up early and make them play and then they’ll get a nap. They’ve got energized batteries in them. I’ve never seen kids like this. They might get a little cranky, but they don’t stop. It’s just, ‘Go. Go. Go.’ It’s nuts.”

Diodoro calls Ike Green, 41, “a very good horseman” and said his wife possesses the organizational skills of a “computer.” The Greens, in the past few years, have overseen divisions for Diodoro at Churchill Downs and Saratoga before opting to focus more on developing their own stock.

Aidan Green said Team Green is a Team effort.

“It wouldn’t really matter either way, if they ran in Ike’s name,” Aidan Green said. “He was going to do more the baby side of things on the farm and we didn’t want any conflict of interest, Diodoro and Ike, since he was his assistant. We just went this way and I’m loving it. I really am. We always laugh that when I first started dating Ike, I said: ‘I hire, I fire and I pay’ because you’re up at the track all morning and I’m at the barn and they don’t listen to me if you pay them. That was our rule. We’ve come a long way since then.”

Except that part about Aidan being a “she” and not a “he.” Green pointed to a well-known national horse racing podcast as a recent comical example.

“My nephew was laughing at one video because he said they talked like they know you, but then they still call you a guy,” Green said. “One guy said, ‘A lot of you don’t know this about Aidan Green, but he is young and he is striving.’ Somebody commented: ‘You know, that’s a girl, right?’ ”

The Greens keep broodmares on their eight-acre farm about 15 minutes southwest of Oaklawn. Ike Green said they’ll likely remain in the Hot Springs area this summer and send a handful of horses to his brother, trainer Greg Green, at Lone Star Park.

Perfect Attendance

Ricardo Santana Jr. moved closer to his eighth Oaklawn riding title with four victories Sunday, including two for his major client, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Santana won the first race aboard favored Lautrec ($3.40) for Asmussen, fifth race aboard Exulting ($7.60) for trainer Mike Maker, seventh race aboard Queens Gift ($7.60) for trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs and the ninth race aboard Flower House ($7.40) for Asmussen.

The four-bagger pushed Santana’s meet totals to 63 victories – 16 more than runner-up David Cabrera – and $5,248,653 in purse earnings, the latter already eclipsing his previous single-season Oaklawn record. Sunday was the 43rd day of the shortened 51-day meeting (severe winter weather).

Santana, 28, has ridden every day at the meeting, electing not to ride in out-of-town town stakes races, particularly for Asmussen, during a time when tracks across the country have had COVID-19 protocols in place.

Santana, for example, missed an opportunity to ride projected Kentucky Derby starter Midnight Bourbon in the $200,000 Lecomte Stakes (G3) Jan. 16 at Fair Grounds after he said family members became ill following a vacation to Cancun, Mexico. The family emergency, Santana said, forced him to miss important engagements in January at Fair Grounds, including the stakes-heavy Jan. 16 program.

Joe Talamo won the Lecomte for Asmussen and retained the mount for the colt’s next two starts, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes (G2) Feb. 13 and the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) March 20. Both races were at Fair Grounds.

“Being that the purses were so good here, and every weekend there was a stake, there was no reason for me to go anywhere,” said Ruben Munoz, who is Santana’s longtime agent. “There’s no reason for me to go Keeneland right now because the purses are so good here and he (Asmussen) doesn’t run that many horses there in the spring. He saves everything for Churchill.”

Munoz said Santana is scheduled to ride at Oaklawn through Sunday before departing for Churchill Downs. He will begin riding there April 27, Munoz said. Santana was Oaklawn’s leading rider in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020.

Munoz also represents newcomer Cristian Torres, who had 17 victories at the meet through Sunday. Torres, 23, moved his tack to Oaklawn after previously being based at Gulfstream Park.

Despite missing the first six days of the Oaklawn meeting after deciding to make the move, Torres has steadily climbed in the standings and ranked seventh through Sunday.

“It’s been great,” Torres said.

Torres, a native of Puerto Rico, said he isn’t sure where he will ride after the Oaklawn meeting ends May 1, but added he plans to return to Hot Springs in 2022.

“We’ll come back next year, for sure,” Munoz said. “I think next year we’ll have a bigger impact.”

Finish Lines

Multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Long Weekend was scheduled to make his 4-year-old debut in Thursday’s eighth race at Oaklawn, an allowance sprint for older horses at 5 ½ furlongs, for trainer Tom Amoss. Long Weekend won the $90,000 Gazebo Stakes and $100,000 Bachelor Stakes last year at Oaklawn. … The $300,000 Oaklawn Stakes for 3-year-olds May 1 closed April 16 with 32 nominees, including 11 for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. The winner will again receive automatic entry into the Preakness, traditionally the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Post positions for the Oaklawn Stakes will be drawn Saturday. … Oaklawn Stakes nominee Noble Reflection posted a half-mile bullet workout (:47.80) over a fast track Thursday morning at Oaklawn for trainer Richard Baltas. Noble Reflection broke his maiden March 7 at Oaklawn before finishing fifth in the fifth in the $200,000 Lexington Stakes (G3) April 10 at Keeneland. … Trainer Bret Calhoun said recently that Mr. Big News, winner of last year’s Oaklawn Stakes, was about to rejoin his stable after being in light training (swimming and jogging) in Ocala, Fla. Following the Oaklawn Stakes, Mr. Big News ran third in the rescheduled Kentucky Derby (COVID-19) before concluding his 2021 campaign with a seventh-place finish in the Preakness Oct. 3 at Pimlico. “When we sent him home, he really didn’t have too many issues,” Calhoun said. “Really, he didn’t have any kind of surgery or anything like that. He just needed a little time. We started to bring him back and we figured out he needed a little bit more time. Just gave him a little bit more time and now we’re on the road to coming back.” The Oaklawn Stakes (then known as the Oaklawn Invitational) was inaugurated in 2019, with the winner, Laughing Fox, finishing fifth in the Preakness.