2026.07.07 Oaklawn Racing Update

Racing Updates
Compiled by Robert Yates

Contact: Chris Ho Vice President of Marketing

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

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Two Seven O? More like “five in a row.”

A three-time winner this season at Oaklawn, Two Seven O stretched his winning streak to five in the $175,000 Dade Park Dash Stakes 3-year-old turf sprinters Saturday at Ellis Park.

Making his grass debut under two-time Oaklawn riding champion Francisco Arrieta, Two Seven O ($12.28) won the 5 ½-furlong race by two lengths over odds-on favorite Trouble Calling. The winning time over a firm course was 1:01.03.

South Florida-based trainer David Fawkes won a 14-way shake, or blind draw, to claim Two Seven O for just $20,000 out of a maiden victory Nov. 19 at Churchill Downs.

Fawkes had a string at Oaklawn for the first time since 2020 this season and won eight races from 50 starts. Fawkes’ star was Two Seven O, who, at odds of 17-1, won a $32,000 claiming sprint by 4 ½ lengths Feb. 14, a first-level allowance sprint by a neck March 28 and, in his stakes debut, the $150,000 Bachelor for 3-year-old sprinters by a neck May 1.

Fawkes trains Two Seven O, a gelded son of Dialed In, for Aaron and Victoria Haberman and First Rodeo Racing (Matthew Scull). Two Seven O has a 5-1-0 record from seven lifetime starts and earnings of $330,065.

Two Seven O wasn’t the only stakes victory Saturday for Fawkes. Roughly 45 minutes after the Dade Park Dash, Fawkes captured the $100,000 Smile Sprint at Gulfstream Park with Oaklawn-raced Viking.

Viking ($16.80) won the Smile Sprint, for 3-year-olds and up, by 4 ½ lengths under Edwin Gonzalez, who guided Two Seven O to his Bachelor victory. Viking’s winning time for six furlongs over a fast track was 1:09.71.

Viking was making his south Florida debut after breaking his maiden in January 2025 at Oaklawn for trainer Randy Morse. Viking entered the Smile Sprint off an eighth-place finish for Morse in a first-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles March 28 at Oaklawn.

Viking was making his first start for Fawkes, who trains the pricey 5-year-old gelded son of 2018 Oaklawn Handicap winner City of Light for longtime clients Alex and JoAnn Lieblong. Alex Lieblong is chairman of the Arkansas Racing Commission. The Lieblongs purchased Viking for $425,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Viking has a 3-1-0 record from 10 lifetime starts and earnings of $172,058.

Fawkes and the Lieblongs teamed to win the 2010 Oaklawn Handicap with millionaire Duke of Mischief.

Finish Lines

Oaklawn allowance winner Hit Show and Oaklawn-raced Tiztastic finished second and third, respectively, in the $500,000 Suburban Stakes (G2) for older horses at 1 ¼ miles Saturday at Saratoga. … Oaklawn stakes winner Lassie My Girl finished second in the $60,000 Opelousas Stakes for fillies and mares, 3 and up, at one mile on the turf Friday at Evangeline Downs. … Arkansas Derby winner Sandman returned to the work tab Saturday at Casse Training Center in Florida, covering three furlongs in :36.80 for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Sandman returned to his Florida base after two disappointing starts in February at Oaklawn, the last a sixth-place finish in the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses Feb. 28. Sandman, unraced since the Razorback, set a single-season Oaklawn record for earnings ($1,168,000) when he won two of four starts at the 2024-2025 meeting, including the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1).