Perennial Oaklawn Park leading rider Ricardo Santana Jr. will return for the 2019 meeting, according to his longtime agent, Ruben Munoz.
Santana will turn 26 on Monday. He has won six consecutive riding titles in Hot Springs, the second-longest streak in track history.
Hall of Famer Pat Day won 12 consecutive riding titles from 1983-1994.
The 2019 meet will begin on Jan. 25 and extend through May 4, the same day as the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
Santana has already set overall career highs this year with 165 victories and $12,684,436 in purse earnings, which ranks ninth nationally, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization.
Backed strongly by Hall of Famer and nine-time Oaklawn leading trainer Steve Asmussen, Santana set an Oaklawn record with $4,240,304 in purse earnings in 2018. He set the previous mark of $4,064,073 in 2016, a meeting punctuated by his first career Grade 1 victory aboard the Asmussen-trained Creator in the $1 million Arkansas Derby.
Santana has added three more Grade 1 victories this year with the $700,000 Apple Blossom Handicap on April 13 at Oaklawn with Unbridled Mo, the $1.2 million Met Mile with Bee Jersey on June 9 at Belmont Park in New York and the $600,000 Forego on Aug. 25 at Saratoga Race Course in New York aboard Whitmore.
His 1,000th career victory in North America came on April 12 at Oaklawn aboard the Asmussen-trained Westfest. He needs 88 victories to reach 500 in Hot Springs.
"We will work hard to get that milestone," Munoz said.
Munoz said he also represents Eric Cancel, but plans to keep him at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York this winter. He said he is "undecided as to my second rider" at Oaklawn in 2019.
A native of Panama City, Panama, Santana was brought to the United States in 2009 by Munoz. Santana recorded his first United States victory Sept. 21, 2009, at Delaware Park, where he was leading rider in 2012. He tied for the riding title at the 2014 Churchill Downs September meeting and topped the Keeneland Race Course standings for the first time at the 2017 fall meet in Lexington, Ky.
Multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Marquee Miss will join WinStar Farm's broodmare band after being purchased a week ago for $750,000 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Marquee Miss won 6 of 34 career starts, including the $100,000 Dixie Belle Stakes and $100,000 Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in 2016 at Oaklawn.
The half-sister to Grade 1 winner Promises Fulfilled earned $373,516 for owner Joe Ragsdale and trainer Ingrid Mason. Marquee Miss was a five-time stakes winner.
"We are thrilled!" Ragsdale said.
On the advice of Mason, Ragsdale purchased Marquee Miss for just $20,000 at the 2015 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company June 2-year-old and Horses of Racing Age Sale. A year earlier at the same sale, Ragsdale, on the advice of Mason, purchased Sarah Sis for $20,000. Sarah Sis was a six-time stakes winner, including Oaklawn's Grade 3 $150,000 Honeybee in 2015, and earned $912,667 before selling for $750,000 as a broodmare prospect at Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky Mixed Sale in 2016.
Stall applications for Oaklawn's 2019 meet are due Thursday. Oaklawn's stable area opens Nov. 26, with the track opening for training on Dec. 3.
Sports on 11/13/2018