2026.03.13 Oaklawn Racing Updates

Racing Updates
Compiled by Robert Yates

Contact: Chris Ho Vice President of Marketing

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

Saturday, March 14, 2026

Apprentice jockeys continue to find the winner’s circle in 2025-2026 at Oaklawn.

Joshua J. Radosevich became the fifth apprentice to record a victory during the scheduled 64-day split season when Butch captured Thursday’s sixth race, an Arkansas-bred maiden-claiming sprint, for trainer Joe McKellar.

Butch ($12.80) represented the seventh career victory for Radosevich, 18, who hails from a prominent Ohio racing family. Radosevich’s first five winners were at Mahoning Valley in Ohio. The initial four were in December for his father, trainer Jeff Radosevich.

Jeff Radosevich has 3,300 career training victories and won 1,141 more races as a jockey, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization, the bulk coming in 1984-1992. Joshua Radosevich said his hook to Oaklawn was veteran agent Jay Fedor, who also represented Jeff Radosevich at one point during his riding career.

“I started riding at the beginning of December and before I even started riding, my dad was talking to Jay, getting me set up with him,” Joshua Radosevich said Friday afternoon. “After I won my fourth race, that’s when Jay wanted to talk to me. That’s when my dad gave him my number. I was on the phone with him and he told me about coming down to Oaklawn. I was like, ‘That’s a great opportunity.’ I only had like 20 starts underneath me. I ended up winning one more race in Ohio, then, like a week later, I packed my bags and drove down here.”

Radosevich made his Oaklawn debut 15 years after his cousin, Jacob Radosevich, topped the 2011 apprentice standings in Hot Springs with five victories. Joshua Radosevich was named after another cousin, Josh Radosevich, who was a promising apprentice jockey before being killed in a November 2005 racing accident at Beulah Park in Ohio. He was 16.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a jockey,” Joshua Radosevich said. “My dad was a jockey. Jacob was riding when I was little. I’ve always wanted to be a rider.”

Radosevich launched his riding career Dec. 1 at Mahoning Valley and notched his first winner Dec. 3 aboard his father’s most prominent runner to date, Mo Dont No, an Ohio-bred millionaire multiple stakes winner. It was the jockey’s third career mount.

“We were wanting him to be my first starter, but I wanted to start as soon as a I could,” Radosevich said of Mo Dont No. “I wanted to ride on my birthday (Nov. 25) and then the first two days I had starts, the races were canceled. So, Mo Dont No ended up my third start and first win. It was really special to me.”

Radosevich scored his fifth victory Dec. 29 at Mahoning Valley.

Radosevich said he arrived in Hot Springs about a week after Oaklawn’s 13-day Holiday racing season ended Jan. 4. Before Oaklawn’s Classic racing season began Feb. 5, Radosevich rode his sixth career winner Jan. 20 at Will Rogers Downs in Oklahoma.

Radosevich said the learning curve at Oaklawn has been steep

.

“Coming here with only 20 starts, I was pretty pumped and pretty confident,” Radosevich said. “I was like, ‘Man, I’m already going to a big track with this amount of mounts I have underneath me.’ But it’s a lot different.”

Citing limited opportunities – 25 mounts through Friday – Radosevich said he will return to Mahoning Valley after Sunday’s card. Radosevich said he can become more polished at home, adding he will ride at Mahoning Valley until its meeting ends April 9, then Thistledown in Ohio, before being based this summer at Ellis Park in Kentucky.

Radosevich said Fedor green-lighted the decision to leave Oaklawn and will continue to represent him.

“I don’t have that much business here right now, since I just started,” Radosevich said. “I knew it was tough coming in during the middle of the meet. If I want to be ready for Kentucky, I need to get more experience. I’m not getting that much here riding one a day.”

Other apprentice riders with victories this season at Oaklawn are Amir Mendoza (17), Ronnie Huckaby (two), Amanda Poston (two) and Luis Fuenmayor (two). Radosevich is named on one horse Saturday at Oaklawn and one Sunday.

“You’ll see me again,” Radosevich said.

Finish Lines

Jockey David Cohen, Oaklawn’s leading rider in 2019, is named to ride Sivako in Thursday’s fourth race for trainer Wayne Potts. Cohen had previously been based at Delta Downs in Louisiana. He has 213 career Oaklawn victories, the last coming April 24, 2022. Cohen won 75 races in 2019 to unseat six-time defending champion Ricardo Santana Jr. Agent Penny Ffitch-Heyes is representing Cohen. … Delacina ($60.20) represented trainer Lynn Chleborad’s 139th career Oaklawn victory in Friday’s ninth race, an $80,000 Ratings Handicap for older female sprinters. Chleborad is the second-winningest female trainer in Oaklawn history. … Trainer Genaro Garcia, who has a division of horses this season at Oaklawn, has 996 career North American victories, according to Equibase. … Entries will be accepted and post positions drawn Sunday for the $500,000 Essex Handicap (G3) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles March 21. The Essex closed March 7 with 28 nominations. The Essex is a major local prep for the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) at 1 1/8 miles April 18.