2026.02.04 Oaklawn Racing Updates

Racing Updates
Compiled by Robert Yates

Exercise rider Bethany Taylor, for now, is back on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Taylor regularly gallops and works unbeaten D’code, who will make his stakes and two-turn debut in the $1 million Southwest (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles Friday at Oaklawn.

Taylor, a former jockey, was in same role last year with the more accomplished Coal Battle, a multiple stakes winner at 2 who won two Kentucky Derby qualifying races at Oaklawn ($250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes and G2 $1.25 million Rebel Stakes) before finishing 11th in the first leg of the Triple Crown.

D’code, conversely, has just one lifetime start, that coming Dec. 14 when he ran the fastest six furlongs in Oaklawn history for a 2-year-old (1:09.57) in a front-running 8 ¼-length romp for trainer H. Ray Ashford Jr. and breeder/owner Tom Durant. That performance generated a towering 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

D’code, despite an abbreviated resume, was installed the 3-1 second choice in the program for the Southwest, which is Oaklawn’s second of four Kentucky Derby qualifying races.

“I’m not real sure what to think about it,” Taylor said. “I mean, it’s cool. We all hope he lives up to the hype. He’s impressive and he’s earned the attention he’s getting. But, yeah, I just hope he keeps moving forward.”

Taylor has been with Ashford since late last year. Taylor said she was working sales last fall in Kentucky when she reached out to Ashford before the Oaklawn meeting began Dec. 12. Taylor inquired if he needed any help because she didn’t want to return to Louisiana, where Lonnie Briley, Coal Battle’s trainer, is based.

Ashford said she met Taylor about five years ago at Remington Park, where she breezed some of the trainer’s horses.

“I knew she used to ride, so I was thinking before we got here that we were going to need some breeze riders,” Ashford said. “I thought it would work out really good. She’s good help.”

Taylor rode 92 winners during her riding career, the last coming Oct. 6, 2023, at Delta Downs in Louisiana, according to Equibase. Her last mount was Dec. 14, 2023, at Delta Downs.

Taylor didn’t win a stakes race as a jockey, but her second career has already produced a graded stakes winner and Kentucky Derby starter in Coal Battle. D’code, perhaps, could be another.

“Obviously, by looks, they’re way different,” Taylor said. “D’code, he’s gray, and Coal Battle is bay. But where it counts, I think they are pretty similar. They’ve got a lot of heart and a lot of class. I think they’re pretty similar in that aspect.”

Coal Battle, unraced since July, returned to the work tab Wednesday morning at Oaklawn, covering 3 furlongs in :36.40. The track was fast.

Milestone Watch

After a one-week weather delay, Oaklawn’s Classic racing season opens Thursday with several jockeys and trainers approaching career milestones, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization.

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. has 799 career Oaklawn victories, fourth-highest total in Oaklawn history. Santana has collected eight Oaklawn riding titles – 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021 – and is its all-time career leader in purse earnings ($47.8 million).

Others chasing career milestones at the Classic racing season include:

Jockey Evin Roman – 997 career North American victories (United States, Canada and Puerto Rico).
Trainer Genaro Garcia – 995 career North American victories through Wednesday.
Trainer H. Ray Ashford Jr. – 995 career North American victories.
Jockey Ramon Vazquez – 487 career Oaklawn victories.
Trainer Ron Moquett – 379 career Oaklawn victories.
Jockey Emmanuel Esquivel – who has 98 career Oaklawn victories.

Oaklawn opened its scheduled 64-day split season with a 13-day Holiday racing season (Dec. 12-Jan 4). The 51-day Classic racing season was originally scheduled to begin Jan. 30 before a winter storm late last month delayed the opening until Thursday. Oaklawn’s Classic season is scheduled to end May 2.

Statistics from the Holiday and Classic racing seasons will be combined to determine 2025-2026 meet leaders in human and equine categories.

Finish Lines

After losing nine days of training (Jan. 24-Feb. 1) because of a winter storm late last month, Oaklawn reopened Monday afternoon … The $150,000 American Beauty Stakes for older female sprinters has been brought back as an extra race for Friday for Feb. 13. The American Beauty was supposed to be run Saturday, but it didn’t have sufficient entries, according to Jason Milligan, Oaklawn’s director of racing. … Champion Nitrogen is the 4-5 program favorite for Saturday’s $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. Nitrogen won a Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion 2-year-old filly of 2024 and an Eclipse Award as North America’s champion 3-year-old filly. Nitrogen will be making her Oaklawn and 4-year-old debut in the Bayakoa for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.