Barn Notes 5/2/25
Compiled by Robert Yates
Steve Hobby, among the winningest trainers in Oaklawn history, said that he will take a break from training after the 2024-2025 meeting ends Saturday.
“Doesn’t mean I’m retired,” Hobby, 69, said Friday morning. “I’m not selling my tack or anything. I’m putting it in storage.”
Hobby, who resides in Hot Springs, is normally based in Kentucky after the Oaklawn meeting ends, but he said he doesn’t have the numbers or quality to compete there now. He specifically mentioned Churchill Downs, a major player nationally thanks, in part, to a mega purse structure fueled by revenue generated from historical horse racing machines.
“I just don’t have the stock to go to Churchill,” Hobby said. “There’s just no sense in going up there right now. I’ve never taken any time off, a week cruise maybe every once in a while over the years, but I’ve decided to take care of myself a little bit.”
Hobby started his first horse in 1985 and once carried maybe 45 horses, but he only had 10 stalls this season at Oaklawn. His handful of remaining horses include King Peanut and Summer Travels (entered Friday) and Great Day for Vino (entered Saturday).
Hobby trains Summer Travels for longtime clients Alex and John Lieblong. The Authentic filly will return to trainer Norm Casse, Hobby said, with Great Day for Vino scheduled to join trainer Joel Berndt at Canterbury Park.
Breslau, Hobby’s lone remaining horse for Batesville, Ark.-based HWL Partnership, was claimed out of Thursday’s fifth race for $35,000. HWL Partnership includes Bill Walmsley, president of the Arkansas division of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, and Mark Lamberth, a member of the Arkansas Racing Commission.
Hobby’s last Oaklawn stakes winner came in 2023 with the HWL Partnership-owned Coastal Charm in the $150,000 Dig A Diamond.
“Bill and Mark would have stayed, but it’s claiming,” Hobby said. “I sold my house up in Louisville last fall. I would have had to go up there (Churchill Downs) and rent a place, do all that, just to run some claiming horses. Bill and Mark have both said they’re going to put their money in the bank and save it for me, if I want to come back. So, maybe next fall we’ll go up there and try and gather up some to come here. I wouldn’t mind racing here. It’s almost six months now here.”
Hobby said the 2024 deaths of his wife/assistant Metzie, along with his mother, also factored into his decision to step away from training.
“I didn’t sit down and plot that out, but it made me think,” Hobby said.
Hobby entered Friday with 1,120 career North American victories, the first coming in 1985, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. Hobby (314 victories through Thursday) is the 16th-winningest trainer in Oaklawn history.
Hobby’s top horses include Grade 1 winners Tiz Miz Sue and Telling and Chindi, the millionaire sprinter turned beloved stable pony for the trainer.
Finish Lines
Two-time defending Oaklawn riding champion Cristian Torres rode two winners Thursday to pull within 60-59 of leader Francisco Arrieta with two days remaining in the 2024-2025 meeting. Torres won the fifth race aboard favored Cat On Time ($5) for trainer David Jacobson and the inaugural $145,000 Majestic Overnight Stakes aboard Mischievous Gal ($13) for trainer Matt Williams. Arrieta rode one winner Thursday, capturing the sixth race aboard Caper’s Hooley ($5.80) for trainer Tom Amoss. Arrieta was Oaklawn’s co-leading rider in 2021-2022. Friday is Torres’ last scheduled day to ride this season at Oaklawn because he is named on horses Saturday at Churchill Downs. Arrieta is scheduled to ride Friday and Saturday at Oaklawn. … Jockey Evin Roman, a 2017 Eclipse Award winner as North America’s champion apprentice jockey, recorded his first career Oaklawn victory aboard Megastar ($20.60) in the Thursday opener for trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs. Roman, a riding champion at the now-defunct Golden Gate Fields in northern California, is named on three horses Friday at Oaklawn. He is based at Horseshoe Indianapolis. … Jockey Danilo Grisales Rave recorded his first career Oaklawn victory in Thursday’s ninth race aboard Fly Like the Wind ($21.80) for trainer John Ortiz. It was the jockey’s fifth career North American victory, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. He has been working as an exercise rider this season at Oaklawn for Ortiz.
