$150,000 Tinsel Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, AR – It looked like a one-horse race on paper. It played out that way on the track.

Millionaire Grade 1 winner Rattle N Roll had a successful Oaklawn debut, scoring a comfortable two-length victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Tinsel Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles.

Under confident handling from Hall of Fame jockey Joel Rosario, Rattle N Roll ($3.40) was last of five early, circled horses on the outside turning for home, struck the front in midstretch and coasted to his 10^th career stakes victory.

The 1 1/8-mile Tinsel was Rattle N Roll’s first start in a non-graded stakes race since winning the St. Louis Derby in August 2022 at Fairmount Park.

Willy D’s, the Tinsel pacesetter, held second, three lengths ahead of Mackman. Woodcourt and Dimatic completed the order of finish. Money Supply and Runaway Again were scratched.

Rattle N Roll, the 3-5 favorite, completed 1 1/8 miles over a fast track in a sharp 1:49.76. He carried equal top weight of 125 pounds.

A Grade 1 winner at 2 for trainer Kenny McPeek, Rattle N Roll has earned $3,638,941 off an 11-3-3 record from 30 lifetime starts. Rattle N Roll, a 6-year-old son of Connect, races for Sharaf Mohamad Alhariri and Mike Mackin’s Lucky Seven Stable. Rattle N Roll won the first time since the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (G3) last January in Saudi Arabia.

Rattle N Roll’s career resume includes seven graded victories and three starts earlier this year in the Middle East. Rattle N Roll also finished fifth in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) and eighth in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1).

Rattle N Roll was exiting a disappointing fifth-place finish in the Clark Stakes (G2), a 1 1/8-mile race he won in 2024, Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs. Rattle N Roll is a four-time stakes winner at 1 1/8 miles in the United States.

McPeek said next-race plans are pending for Rattle N Roll, but he will be considered for another trip to the Middle East and local stakes races leading up to the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) at 1 1/8 miles April 18.

Racing resumes Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (Central) with 10 races highlighted by the $150,000 Poinsettia Stakes for female sprinters.

TINSEL QUOTES

WINNING JOCKEY JOEL ROSARIO (RATTLE N ROLL): “He’s a nice horse. He always tries really hard. He’s run against the best horses in the country. He ran really well again today. He came, like he always does, from off the pace. (It) was easy at the end.”

WINNING TRAINER KENNY McPEEK (RATTLE N ROLL): “He’s hickory. He’s such a fun horse to be around. For him to win stakes, what is this?: (Age) Two, 3, 4, 5, 6 and possibly 7. Been a lot of fun. This is a horse that might even get overlooked with some of the other good ones we have, but he’s special.”