Despite missing the final 13 racing days due to injury, David Cabrera earned his first Oaklawn Park riding title with 62 victories when the Arkansas track concluded its racing season Sunday. Cabrera was one win ahead of Francisco Arrieta and eight-time Oaklawn riding champion Ricardo Santana was third with 47 victories.
“This is a dream,” Cabrera said. “This is a dream and I really thank my agent. He's a very, very good agent. To me, having him is something very good. He's my secret weapon.”
Cabrera, who has spent the last few weeks recovering at his home in Jones, Oklahoma and is targeting a return to the saddle in late May at Lone Star Park, sustained head, neck and upper back injuries in an Apr. 8 spill, which occurred when his mount, Mostly Awesome, clipped heels in upper stretch and fell. Cabrera was unseated and tumbled hard to the ground. He said he has no memory of the accident.
“Actually, it's the like the last five days that I've started to feel normal,” Cabrera said. “Before that, I was having trouble with my senses. I was still acting a little weird. Everything, I think, has come back to normal.”
Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen won 65 races to capture his 12th Oaklawn training title. Asmussen had shared the record for most career Oaklawn training titles with the late Hall of Famer Henry Forrest. Asmussen (820) is poised to surpass the late Bob Holthus (867) as the winningest trainer in Oaklawn history at the 2022-2023 meeting.
John Ed Anthony topped all owners at the meeting in victories (19), purse earnings ($2,083,402) and stakes victories (five). Anthony set a single-season Oaklawn record for purse earnings. M and M Racing of Mike and Mickala Sisk set the previous mark ($1,782,351) in 2019. Anthony also surpassed the late Sharon Hild at the meet to become Oaklawn's all-time winningest owner. Anthony has 279 career Oaklawn victories, the first coming Feb. 16, 1972.
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