2026.07.09 Oaklawn Racing Update

Racing Updates
Compiled by Robert Yates

Contact: Chris Ho Vice President of Marketing

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

Thursday, July 9, 2026

A total of 26 Oaklawn-raced Thoroughbreds, including five stakes winners, are entered Friday and Saturday at Prairie Meadows for its Iowa Festival of Racing Friday and Saturday at Prairie Meadows.

The Festival features eight stakes races – four each day – highlighted by Saturday’s $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3) for 3-year-old and up at 1 1/8 miles.

The heaviest concentration of Oaklawn-raced horses (seven entrants) is in Saturday’s $250,000 Iowa Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles. Probable post time for the Iowa Derby, the seventh of 10 races, is 8:53 p.m. (Central).

Oaklawn stakes winner Desert Gate is the 9-5 Iowa Derby program favorite for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman.

After adding blinkers, Desert Gate rolled to a 9 ¾-length victory in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes March 26 at Oaklawn and captured the Texas Derby May 25 at Lone Star Park by 6 ¼ lengths. Those races were one mile and 1 1/16 miles, respectively.

Desert Gate exits a fourth-place finish in the Ohio Derby (G3) at 1 1/8 miles June 20 at Thistledown.

Florent Geroux is scheduled to ride Desert Gate for the first time Saturday. The son of 2019 Arkansas Derby winner Omaha Beach is scheduled to break from post 5 in the nine-horse field and carry 120 pounds.

Another Iowa Derby entrant, Crupper (8-1), ran five times this season at Oaklawn for breeder/owner Robert H. Zoellner and trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel, breaking his maiden at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 6 and scoring a front-running half-length victory in the $200,000 Bathhouse Row Stakes April 18.

The 1 1/8-mile Bathhouse Row offered automatic entry into the Preakness if the winner was Triple Crown nominated. Crupper will be making his first start since finishing 13th in the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, May 16 at Laurel.

Bricklin (6-1) was a front-running allowance race winner Jan. 3 at Oaklawn before finishing fourth in its $1.5 million G1-Arkansas Derby March 28.

Other Oaklawn-raced horses entered in the Iowa Derby are Maximum Effort, J J Grey, Canned Heat and Chad Allan.

J J Grey was a powerful entry-level allowance winner at 1 1/16 miles May 2 at Oaklawn and finished second in the Bathhouse Row and Texas Derby.

The three other Oaklawn stakes winners entered in Festival races are Grace Is Free in Friday’s Iowa Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles and Booth and Speed King in Saturday’s Iowa Sprint for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs.

Navajo Warrior, a Dec. 28 starter-allowance winner at Oaklawn, is the 5-2 program favorite for the Cornhusker.

Finish Lines

Oaklawn stakes winner Goodall is the 3-1 program favorite for the $225,000 G3-Victory Ride Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 6 ½ furlongs Friday at Saratoga. Oaklawn-raced Sneaky Good is also entered. … Nine-time Oaklawn winner Devil’s Tower is entered in the $100,000 William Garrett Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at five furlongs on the turf Friday at Horseshoe Indianapolis. … Oaklawn stakes winner Zeitlos is entered in the $250,000 G2-Caress Stakes for older fillies and mares at 5 ½ furlongs on the turf Saturday at Saratoga. … Oaklawn maiden special weight graduate Out of the Woods is entered in the $300,000 G3-Indiana Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis. … Oaklawn maiden special graduate Maximum Offer is entered in the $200,000 G3-Indiana Oaks Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis. … Millionaire Oaklawn allowance winner Bendoog is the 3-1 program favorite for the $100,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial Stakes Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Oaklawn stakes winner Instant Replay, Oaklawn allowance winners Woodcourt and First Division, Oaklawn maiden special weight graduate Gould’s Gold and Oaklawn-raced C. J.’s Storm and Fountain Run are also entered. … Oaklawn-raced Calamity is entered in the $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Handicap Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis. … Wednesday marked jockey Amir Mendoza’s final day as an apprentice. Mendoza was Oaklawn’s runaway champion apprentice in 2025-2026 and recorded victories in his final two mounts with a five-pound weight allowance Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis, where he is based. … Jockey Rafael Bejarano, an Oaklawn regular, enters Thursday with $249,998,215 in career purse earnings, the 15th-highest total in North American history. Bejarano, who is based at Ellis Park, has 202 victories and $18 million in purse earnings in his Oaklawn career.