2026.01.08 Oaklawn – Racing Update

Racing Updates
Compiled by Robert Yates

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

The staggering numbers, lately sentimental, continue to pile up at Oaklawn for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Asmussen ($1,020,890) became the first trainer at the 64-day split season to reach $1 million in purse earnings when favored El Prestigio ($5.20) won Sunday’s 11th and final race, a $115,000 allowance sprint for older horses.

El Prestigio, who was ridden by Hall of Famer Joel Rosario, was the meet-high 13th victory for Asmussen and record-extending 1,006th overall at Oaklawn. Sunday marked the final day of Oaklawn’s 13-day Holiday racing season. Oaklawn’s 51-day Classic racing season is Jan. 30-May 2.

Earlier in the Holiday racing season, Asmussen:

· Became the first trainer to reach 1,000 career Oaklawn victories when Duke of Duval captured an allowance race Dec. 28. Duke of Duval was ridden by 2024 Eclipse Award winner Erik Asmussen, Asmussen’s youngest son.

· Extended his Oaklawn record to 31 consecutive seasons with at least one stakes victory when Tap Into This captured Friday’s inaugural $135,000 “The Coach” Overnight.

· Scored his record-extending 125th and 126th career Oaklawn stakes victories in Saturday’s $150,000 Renaissance and $135,000 Commodore Overnight with Obliteration and Bourbon Bash, respectively.

The Coach Overnight honored the late Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who had a close relationship with Asmussen’s parents, dating to their Quarter Horse days in the 1960s. Lukas had trained Bourbon Bash for owners John Bellinger and Brian Coelho (BC Stables).

The Coach Overnight marked the first stakes victory for BC Stables since Lukas’ death June 28. Jockey Keith Asmussen, Steve Asmussen’s oldest son, had teamed with Lukas for BC Stables’ first Oaklawn stakes victory, the inaugural $145,000 Bugler Overnight last January, with Lady Moscato.

Obliteration is co-owned by Leland Ackerley, who also campaigned Valid Expectations, Steve Asmussen’s first nationally prominent horse and first career Oaklawn stakes winner (1996 Mountain Valley).

“A lot of very positive things in there that speak to respect and long term (relationships),” Asmussen said. “It was a very, very nice weekend in that regard.”

Asmussen is seeking his record-extending 15th career Oaklawn training title. He has a record 11,094 career North American victories.

The Martha Washington

Unbeaten Grade 3 winner Taken by the Wind “very likely” will make her 2026 debut in the $300,000 Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Jan. 31 at Oaklawn, trainer Kenny McPeek said Tuesday morning.

The 1 1/16-mile Martha Washington is Oaklawn’s first of three qualifying races for the Kentucky Oaks, the country’s biggest race for 3-year-old fillies.

Taken by the Wind won her two starts last year, including the $300,000 Pocahontas Stakes (G3) Sept. 13 at Churchill Downs, by a combined 8 ¼ lengths for McPeek’s Magdalena Racing, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw and Graham Leveston.

The Martha Washington would mark the two-turn debut for Taken by the Wind, who worked a half-mile in :47.40 Dec. 29 at Oaklawn. Taken by the Wind is from the first crop of Grade 1 winner Rock Your World.

Counting Stars and Search Party are also pointing for the Martha Washington, dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said Saturday afternoon.

Counting Stars is a two-time stakes winner this season at Oaklawn, capturing the inaugural $135,000 Astral Spa at six furlongs Dec. 14 and the $150,000 Year’s End at one mile Dec. 27. Search Party broke her maiden at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 27 at Oaklawn.

Nominations to the Martha Washington close Jan. 19. Entries will be accepted and post positions drawn Jan. 25 for the Martha Washington and three other stakes races Jan. 31 – $1 million Southwest (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles, $135,000 Bugler Overnight for older fillies and mares at 6 furlongs and the $135,000 General MacArthur Overnight for older horses at 1 1/8 miles.

Oaklawn’s Kentucky Oaks qualifying series continues with the $750,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles March 1 and the $1 million Fantasy Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles March 27. The Honeybee and Fantasy were bumped to record levels in 2026 after previously being worth $500,000 and $750,000, respectively.

Finish Lines

Racing resumes Jan. 30 at Oaklawn with the 51-day Classic season that runs through May 2. … Statistics from the 13-day Holiday racing season that concluded Sunday will be carried over to the Classic racing season to determine 2025-2026 leaders in human and equine categories, Oaklawn director of racing Jason Milligan said. … Lassie My Girl, the first career stakes winner for trainer Melton Wilson, recently returned to Oaklawn to prepare for her 2026 campaign. The Arkansas-bred is unraced since an Aug. 29 allowance victory at Evangeline Downs because of illness, Wilson said. Lassie My Girl won the $150,000 Natural State Breeders’ Stakes for state-breds females last April at Oaklawn to give eight-time local riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr. his 2,000th career victory in North America (United States, Canada and Puerto Rico), according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. … Millionaire Grade 1 winner Rattle N Roll is pointing for the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) at 1,800 meters Feb. 14 in Saudi Arabia, trainer Kenny McPeek said Tuesday morning. Rattle N Roll, in his last start, won the $150,000 Tinsel Stakes at 1 1/8 miles Dec. 20 at Oaklawn. Rattle N Roll ran fifth in last year’s Saudi Cup. … The McPeek-trained Maximum Offer ($13.60) broke her maiden in Sunday’s third race for 3-year-old fillies at one mile to become the first Oaklawn winner sired by Maxfield. Maximum Offer was making her third career start. “We like her, Maximum Offer,” McPeek said. “She’ll probably come back in a 1X allowance race in early February.” Maxfield, a millionaire multiple Grade 1 winner, was North America’s second-leading first-crop sire in 2025. … McPeek said multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Corningstone was retired following a fifth-place finish in the $150,000 Pippin Stakes for fillies and mares, 3 and up, at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 26 at Oaklawn. Corningstone ($979,978) is the leading accredited Indiana-bred career money winner in history. Her 10 victories included the Pippin and Mistletoe Stakes last season at Oaklawn. McPeek said no decision has been made on who Corningstone, a 6-year-old daughter of Kantharos, will be bred to this year.