Pony Express Listed in Fifth Season Stakes as Oaklawn Cancels Card

Oaklawn Park had accepted entries and planned post-position draws for the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes, a one-mile dirt test for older horses, but the track's Jan. 29-31 race days were canceled because of forecast freezing temperatures. That operational change cast immediate uncertainty over a card that had included Pony Express, Seize the Night, Komorebino Omoide (JPN) and a horse listed simply as Speed.

The most notable wrinkle is Pony Express. The 5-year-old son of Gun Runner, trained by John Sadler, was listed on Oaklawn's Fifth Season entry with Joel Rosario named as the rider. At the same time, Pony Express also appears on Santa Anita’s San Pasqual Stakes (G2) entries for Jan. 31 as post 5, listed with Hector Isaac Berrios, carrying 120 pounds and pegged at a 9/5 morning line. Connections have not been publicly reconciled in the available entries, and there is no official declaration or scratch sheet in the materials provided, so final assignments remain unresolved.

Pony Express arrives with recent form that includes a runner-up finish in the Tokyo City Cup Stakes on Oct. 25, a performance that keeps him competitive in one-mile routes. Joel Rosario’s name on the Oaklawn list and Hector Berrios on the Santa Anita list illustrate the jockey shuffles that often accompany multiple entries; trainers routinely nominate horses to more than one spot before making last-minute decisions based on weather, travel and purse opportunities.

San Pasqual’s field, by contrast, looks set with morning lines: Getaway Car 2/1, Pony Express 9/5, Midnight Mammoth 9/2, Bartholdy 4/1, Westwood 8/1 and Ghazaaly 10/1. Ghazaaly carries an interesting backstory for the industry; he sold for $1.05 million as a yearling at the 2019 Keeneland September sale, was claimed last August for $40,000 and had a start in a $25,000 claiming race on Jan. 19. Those numbers underline how horses can move between sales, claiming and stakes circles, reshaping trainer strategies and betting angles.

For punters and racing operations, Oaklawn’s cancellation is more than an inconvenience. Canceling multiple days trims wagering pools, forces scratch-driven refunds, and compresses a winter stakes calendar that many barns use to prep horses for spring targets. Trainers like John Sadler must weigh travel and training patterns for horses such as Pony Express while racing offices at Oaklawn and Santa Anita sort final fields and jockey commitments.

What comes next is straightforward: watch for official declarations and scratch lists from Oaklawn and Santa Anita. Bettors should hold off on wagering until those confirmations, while owners and trainers will be monitoring weather and track decisions before committing to San Pasqual or awaiting a reschedule at Oaklawn.