Fifth Season Stakes Recap 2026
Compiled by Robert Yates
Contact: Chris Ho, Vice President of Marketing, cho@oaklawn.com, 501-623-4411 ext. 4201
Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026
Photo Credit: Coady Media
WILL TAKE IT - Fifth Season Satkes - 38th Running
For Immediate Release
$150,000 Fifth Season Stakes
Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. reached an Oaklawn career milestone when he guided Will Take It to a narrow victory in Thursday’s $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes.
Santana became just the fourth jockey in Oaklawn history to reach 800 victories when Will Take It, who was making his 2026 debut, edged Woodcourt by a head in the one-mile race for older horses. Woodcourt, the pacesetter throughout most of the race, finished three-quarters of a length ahead of American Law, who was followed, in order, by 3-5 favorite Speed King and Thoughtthatcounts. The Fifth Season was reduced to five starters following the scratches of 8-5 program favorite Pony Express, Grade 3 winner Komorebino Omoide, Oaklawn stakes winner Seize the Night and Prince of Wales Stakes winner Runaway Again.
A foul claim by Emmanuel Esquivel, the rider of Woodcourt, against Santana for alleged interference in the stretch was disallowed by stewards. The winning time over a fast track was 1:38.13.
Santana employed ground-saving tactics with Will Take It ($11.80), who slipped inside Woodcourt with about a sixteenth of a mile remaining to record his second career stakes victory. Will Take It won the one-mile $300,000 Hanshin Stakes June 29 at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old son of Tapit had added blinkers in his final 2025 start, a sixth-place finish in the Tenacious Stakes at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 20 at Fair Grounds.
Santana, an eight-time Oaklawn riding champion, rode Will Take It for trainer Dallas Stewart and co-owners Willis Horton Racing (Kevin Horton of Marshall, Ark.) and Whisper Hill Farm (Mandy Pope). Pope also bred Will Take It.
Will Take It raised his career earnings to $649,919 following his sixth victory from 22 starts.
The Fifth Season was originally carded Jan. 30 in conjunction with the opening of Oaklawn’s scheduled 51-day Classic racing season. But Oaklawn moved its Jan. 30, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 programs to this week following a winter storm late last month that closed the track for training for nine days. Oaklawn concluded its 13-day Holiday racing season Jan. 4.
Racing resumes Friday at 11:30 a.m. CST with 12 races highlighted by the $1 million Southwest Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds and the $300,000 Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
FIFTH SEASON QUOTES
WINNING JOCKEY RICARDO SANTANA JR. (WILL TAKE IT): “Many of this horse’s best races is when he’s on the rail. I told Dallas (Stewart) that. He just said: ‘Ride your race.’ That was my plan. He broke a step slow. I got to the rail. He tried to run off. Finally, I got him to relax. From there, he was a different horse. I was able to get through (in the stretch).”
WINNING TRAINER DALLAS STEWART (WILL TAKE IT): “We’ve got a very nice horse. It was a great ride today. (Ricardo) Santana showed up big. This horse has been training terrific. We’re glad to bring him here and showcase him. It was a terrific race. I think we found out a few things about him. He started off good through the year (2025) and then kind of dropped off a little bit. We got some blinkers on him. I think we learned some things about him. He’s a very finicky type horse, but I think we’ve got him figured out.”
