Jockey David Cohen Returns to Oaklawn Park, Eager to Ride Again

David Cohen arrived in Hot Springs on a Saturday night, got to the barn before sunrise, and felt immediately at home. "I was backing a horse up to the wire and was like, 'Man, I just love this place,'" the 41-year-old jockey said after working horses Sunday morning ahead of his scheduled return to Oaklawn Park competition. "It's a magical place to be."

Cohen had not ridden regularly at Oaklawn since the 2021-2022 meet, ending a five-season run that produced 213 victories at the Hot Springs oval. His last win there came April 24, 2022. After leaving, he moved his tack to Fair Grounds in late 2022, then was based at Delta Downs in Louisiana earlier this year until that meeting ended February 21.

His comeback to Oaklawn coincided with a new partnership: agent Penny Ffitch-Heyes, who said Cohen worked horses before Sunday morning's surface renovation break for trainers John Haran and Mac Robertson. His first scheduled mounts back included Sivako in the fourth race for trainer Wayne Potts and Lemon Drop Shot in Friday's 10th race for trainer Fernando Bahena.

The reunion carries genuine historical weight. Cohen led the Oaklawn riding standings in 2019 with 75 victories, a total that ended Ricardo Santana Jr.'s six-year grip on the title. His overall Oaklawn record stands at 213 wins, and his career-wide numbers are equally formidable: 1,751 North American victories since his first win on August 11, 2004, at Del Mar. His peak season came in 2009, when he won 288 races to rank sixth in North America.

At 41, Cohen insisted his best riding is still ahead of him. "I feel great," he said. "It is funny, you go through stages and I'm at that point I feel like I'm at my peak. We always try to ride quality over quantity. We know what we're coming in against."

Elsewhere in the Oaklawn barn notes, trainer Lynn Chleborad reached 139 career Oaklawn victories when Delacina paid $60.20 to win Friday's ninth race, an $80,000 Ratings Handicap for older female sprinters. Chleborad is the second-winningest female trainer in Oaklawn history. Trainer Genaro Garcia, with a division stabled at Oaklawn this season, holds 996 career North American victories according to Equibase.

Meanwhile, young jockey Joshua Radosevich, whose connection to Oaklawn came through veteran agent Jay Fedor, who also represented trainer Jeff Radosevich during his riding career, acknowledged the track's steep learning curve. "Coming here with only 20 starts, I was pretty pumped and pretty confident," Joshua said. "But it's a lot different." Citing just 25 mounts through Friday, he planned to leave after Sunday's card and return to Mahoning Valley, then Thistledown in Ohio, before settling at Ellis Park in Kentucky for the summer. Fedor approved the move and will continue representing him.

For Cohen, no such exit plan was on his mind. "Why wouldn't you want to come back here?" he said simply, standing in the dark beside the Oaklawn rail.