Cristian Torres

Jockey Cristian Torres hit a personal milestone Friday, Jan. 2 when he piloted Tiz in Sight (Tiz the Law) to victory against starter optional claimers, and in the process secured Oaklawn win 300 in his career. Torres moved tack to the venue in early 2021, and produced one of the best seasons in the track's history in 2022-23 when he finished with 100 victories and over $6.1-million in earnings. It was a single-season local record, and he joined a rarified group as Hall of Famer Pat Day is the only...

Sandman (Tapit) and La Cara (Street Sense), Grade I winners for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, each had five-furlong workouts over a fast track Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas. GI Arkansas Derby winner Sandman, under Cristian Torres, went in :59.60 (1/16). He covered his opening eighth of a mile in :12, a quarter-mile in :24 and three furlongs in :35.80 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.40. Unraced since late August, Sandman has had five published workouts in advance of his yet-to-be determined 4-year-old debut. "He's...

The $400,000 GIII Penn Mile, the lone graded stakes annually on the Penn National stakes schedule, has attracted a competitive field of 10 and, adding further intrigue to an already challenging handicapping puzzle Friday evening, is the presence of some of this country's top reinsmen, making a rare appearance at the Central Pennsylvania oval. A good many were pushing for an Amerman Racing-owned son of Oscar Performance to contest the GII American Turf S. at Churchill Downs May 4, but GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner Endlessly opted for the GI...

Two turns? It turns out there's no problem. When Timberlake (c, 3, Into Mischief--Pin Up {Ire}, by Lookin At Lucky) finished a somewhat rank, then flat, fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November, questions swirled about his ability to get two turns. Trainer Brad Cox brushed the questions aside and let the horse do the talking. A freshened Timberlake, making his first start of the year in Oaklawn's GII Rebel S. Saturday, captured the $1.3-million race by a resounding two lengths over Kenny McPeek trainees Common Defense (Karakontie...

Formerly known as the Kelso, Saturday's GII Forty Niner S. at Aqueduct may not have Breeders' Cup implications, but as the first graded win in New York for Cristian Torres, who piloted Everso Mischievous (c, 3, Into Mischief--Ever So Clever, by Medaglia d'Oro), it may have felt like the Breeders' Cup. Torres picked up the sixth graded win of his career after earning his first one earlier this year in the GIII Razorback S. at Oaklawn on Last Samurai (Malibu Moon). "It's unbelievable," said Torres. "I can't express how I...

The names of some of this country's most accomplished Thoroughbred owners grace the honor roll as winners of the GII Oaklawn H., including Loblolly Stable, Greentree Stable, Allen Paulson, Golden Eagle, John Franks, Ogden Phipps, Jerry Moss, Pin Oak Stable and the late Oaklawn president Charles Cella. Following the conclusion of nine sometimes rough-and-tumble furlongs Saturday in Hot Springs, you can now add the name of Godolphin to the list, as the operation's immaculately bred 5-year-old Proxy (Tapit) stormed down the center of the track and managed to outfinish defending...

Last year's meet at Oaklawn Park was not a particularly good one for jockey Cristian Torres. Largely unknown on the circuit when he came in and sidelined for the last five weeks of the meet when fracturing his right ankle in a spill, he won just 19 races, ending up 15th in the standings. Fast forward some eight months later and Torres is tearing the place apart. Two weeks into the meet, he's the leading rider with 11 wins and is winning with 33% of his mounts. "We've started off...