Touchdown Arkansas Rallies to Win Nodouble Breeders' Stakes at Oaklawn

Touchdown Arkansas rallied wide from post 8 under jockey Francisco Arrieta to collar pacesetter Bohemian Bo and win the $150,000 Nodouble Breeders’ Stakes at Oaklawn Park by three-quarters of a length in 1:10.31 on a fast track. Trained by Tom (Thomas) Van Berg and owned by Lewis E. Mathews Jr. of Bismarck, Ark., the 5-year-old Bee Jersey gelding notched his first career stakes victory and lifted his lifetime earnings to $257,500 while improving his record to 6: 3-1-0.

Bohemian Bo grabbed the early lead out of the gate and set the pace as the field moved through a half-mile in 46.39 seconds. Touchdown Arkansas tracked from just off the pace before engaging on the outside turning for home, wearing down Bohemian Bo in the final furlong as Cybertown mounted a fast-closing bid on the outside to finish second, three-quarters of a length behind the winner. Bohemian Bo held on for third, another three-quarters of a length back.

Betting and payouts reflected market movement: Touchdown Arkansas was listed at 3-1 on Oaklawn’s pre-race entry line but was sent off at 4-1, paying $10.00 to win, $6.00 to place and $4.00 to show. Cybertown returned figures of $24.60 and $7.40 in the available reports, and Bohemian Bo paid $2.80. Touchdown Arkansas had been second in an Arkansas-bred allowance sprint at Oaklawn on Feb. 6, making this stakes breakthrough a timely progression for owner Lewis E. Mathews Jr., who is best known for campaigning millionaire Oaklawn stakes winner Ivan Fallunovalot.

The full order of finish underscored the depth of Arkansas-bred sprinting talent in the field: Touchdown Arkansas, Cybertown, Bohemian Bo, Navy Seal, Lochmoor, One Ten Stadium, Willow Creek Road and Al’s Romeo. Navy Seal, the 2025 Nodouble winner, finished fourth, a neck ahead of Lochmoor. Reflecting on Navy Seal’s trip, Knott said, “(Navy Seal) was sitting too close to the pace. He wasn’t even sitting close on his own. You can see the jockey (Javier Castellano) tapping him with the stick to try to keep up. You can’t do that. You’ve just got to let him get comfortable getting into his stride and then wait for his run at the end. Even though he breaks really good, you’ve just got to let the speed go.”

From a meet and market perspective, the result highlights Francisco Arrieta’s strong run of form at Oaklawn this meet; Arrieta also rode a stakes winner in the meet’s Downthedustyroad Breeders’ Stakes, demonstrating consistent stakes-level success for jockeys who choose the Oaklawn winter circuit. For regional racing stakeholders, Touchdown Arkansas’s first stakes score and the presence of past Nodouble and Arkansas Breeders’ Championship winners in the lineup reinforce Oaklawn’s role as a proving ground for Arkansas-bred sprinters and as an economic engine for local owners like Mathews Jr., who parlay local campaign successes into tangible purse earnings.