Diodoro Picks Up 300th Oaklawn Park Victory

Robertino Diodoro became the 15th trainer in Oaklawn Park history to reach 300 career victories when Adaline Julia captured the fourth race Jan. 21, a $103,000 entry-level allowance sprint for fillies and mares. Adaline Julia's win came two weeks after Diodoro reached another career milestone at Oaklawn, becoming just the 37th trainer in North American history (United States and Canada) to record 3,000 victories, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. "It's been a good run," Diodoro said during training hours Sunday morning. "All starts with the help and owners. If you don't have those, you got nothing." Diodoro, who turned 49 Jan. 16, began racing at Oaklawn in 2015 and has become a dominant figure in Hot Springs, a meet he now points for, highlighted by his first local training title in 2020 and a torrid start at the 2022-2023 meeting that began Dec. 9. Diodoro won 51 races in 2020, becoming the fourth trainer in Oaklawn history to reach 50 victories at a meet. He topped the 2022-2023 standings through Saturday, Day 17 of the scheduled 68-day meeting, with 22 victories from just 65 starts. Diodoro ($1,044,489) also became the first trainer at the meeting to surpass $1 million in purse earnings with Adaline Julia's victory. Cristian Torres rode Adaline Julia ($6.40) for owner Jerry Caroom of Hot Springs. Diodoro added his 301st Oaklawn victory, and 3,015th in North America, when Totalizer ($7.60) won Saturday's seventh race. "It's been a great meet," Diodoro said. "It's a team effort, that's what I always say." In addition to the 2020 title, Diodoro also finished second to perennial Oaklawn champion Steve Asmussen in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2021-2022. Diodoro's fast start in 2022-2023 includes a meet-high three stakes victories, increasing his career Oaklawn total to 13. Diodoro entered Jan. 22 with 301 victories from 1,263 starts and purse earnings of $12,444,670 in his Oaklawn career.