2025.04.23 Oaklawn Racing Updates

Racing Press Release
Compiled by Robert Yates

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

First Mission has a guaranteed spot in the $250,000 Pimlico Special Stakes (G3) May 16 Pimlico, but his team (breeder/owner Godolphin and trainer Brad Cox) has bigger plans for the 5-year-old son of Street Sense.

A first career Grade 1 victory.

“Absolutely,” Michael Banahan, bloodstock director for Godolphin, USA, said moments after First Mission’s two-length victory in the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) Saturday at Oaklawn. “We tried last year. He was the favorite in the Stephen Foster. We’ll go back and have a look at that this year and see if we can get that one done at Churchill Downs.”

The $1 million Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles is June 28.

First Mission ($4.80) had a strong audition for a fourth shot in Grade 1 company, winning the Oaklawn Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for older horses, under Flavien Prat. As part of the Maryland Jockey Club’s “Win Today, See You in May” series, First Mission earned automatic entry into the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special.

First Mission, the 7-5 favorite, ran 1 1/8 miles over a fast track in a meet-best 1:49.09 to generate a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 109, a career high. Cox targeted the Oaklawn Handicap after First Mission finished third, beaten less than a length, in his 2025 debut, the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) Feb. 23 at Oaklawn.

“He’d been training super since the beginning of the year,” Banahan said. “Ever since his prep race down here, he’s done even better. He (Cox) made the comment that he couldn’t wait for this day to come along a couple of weeks ago. He was confident that he would run well. It was a tough race, so we’re just glad to see the horse do that. We’ve always liked him and thought he was of that quality. To come out and beat a good field like that today was very rewarding.”

The Razorback marked First Mission’s first start since finishing seventh in the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles Aug. 3 at Saratoga. Cox said First Mission emerged from the Whitney a tired horse and he didn’t return to the work tab until early December at Fair Grounds.

First Mission ran in two other Grade 1 races last year, finishing ninth in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park and fourth in the Stephen Foster.

First Mission was the 5-2 second choice in the program for the 2023 Preakness – the second leg of the Triple Crown – before being scratched on the eve of the race with a left hind leg issue.

“We thought we were set up a couple of times,” Cox said, referring to a Grade 1 victory. “The Preakness, we had a setback there. I thought we were ready to roll in the Stephen Foster last year. Didn’t work out quite as well as we hoped.”

The Oaklawn Handicap was the fourth career graded stakes victory for First Mission and sixth victory in 12 starts overall. He also won the $600,000 Essex Handicap (G3) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles last year at Oaklawn. First Mission has $2,060,170 in career earnings.

The Oaklawn Handicap was the second of two stakes victories Saturday at Oaklawn for Cox, who also won the $200,000 Bathhouse Row for 3-year-olds with Instant Replay.

Jorgito Abrego, who oversees trainer Cox’s Oaklawn division, said First Mission and Instant Replay emerged from their races in good shape physically. Both horses, Abrego said, were to ship Wednesday night to Churchill Downs, where Cox is based.

The Great Race

Four jockeys are vying for the Oaklawn riding title with seven days remaining in the meeting.

Two-time defending champion Cristian Torres has a meet-high 55 victories, followed by Francisco Arrieta (53), Rafael Bejarano (50) and Tyler Bacon (47). Arrieta was Oaklawn’s co-leading rider in 2021-2022. Bejarano and Bacon are seeking their first Oaklawn riding title.

Bacon, 17, has already wrapped up champion apprentice honors at the meeting, recording 38 victories before losing his weight allowance March 28. The 38 victories are the highest single-season total for an Oaklawn apprentice since Carlos Gonzalez won 41 races in 1987. Bacon’s mounts earned $2,619,939 in purses, a single-season Oaklawn record for an apprentice.

Oaklawn’s 2024-2025 live meeting ends May 3.

Finish Lines

Racing resumes Thursday at Oaklawn, with first post 12:20 p.m. (Central). The Thursday program was recently added to Oaklawn’s racing calendar to help offset several lost days earlier in the meeting to weather. … Trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs saddled three winners Saturday at Oaklawn to equal his career high on a single card. Moquett won the first race with favored Rock Solo ($4.80), third race with favored Coaster ($4.80) and the eighth race with Popperina ($10.40). It was Moquett’s third training triple at Oaklawn. … Kimchi Cat is pointing for the seven-furlong $600,000 Eight Belles Stakes (G2) for 3-year-old fillies May 2 at Churchill Downs, trainer Tom Amoss said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s a hard race,” Amoss said. “But, I mean, she deserves a chance in there, for sure.” Kimchi Cat hasn’t started since winning the six-furlong $175,000 Purple Martin Stakes for 3-year-old fillies March 22 at Oaklawn. … Trainer Norman McKnight enters Thursday with 990 career North American victories (United States and Canada), according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. McKnight’s 990th victory came in Saturday’s second race at Oaklawn with favored Principe Carlo ($8). … Through Saturday, the 55th day of racing at Oaklawn, 339 claims totaled $6,967,500, according to figures released by the track.