How to bet the 2026 Coach Overnight Stakes

A cast of six four-year-old colts will go 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park in Friday’s $135,000 Coach Overnight S. The consistently good #4 Tap Into This (8-5) will make his stakes debut in the contest for conditioner Steve Asmussen and has a lot of appeal with Joel Rosario riding. Purchased for $525,000 as a yearling, the son of Tapit broke his maiden in his sixth start at Saratoga in July and has continued to ascend since that score. 

Coach Wagers

• $20 exacta 4 with 2 ($20)
• $10 exacta 4 with 1 ($10)
• $5 trifecta 2,4 with 2,4 with 1 ($10)

Tap Into This bagged a pair of allowance races in succession following his first tally and was last seen rallying to be a close third in the deep allowance heat at Churchill Downs behind a nice top pair. The gray will travel two turns for the first time since finishing second on this oval in April, and since he’s a much better horse right now, I expect the Kentucky-bred to thrive at the distance on Friday. He has earned triple-digit Brisnet Late Pace ratings in two straight and will be difficult to fend off late in his current form cycle. 

#2 Zero Sugar (5-2) graduated on the oval, going nine panels in his second lifetime run in March. The Twirling Candy colt returned with a fine second in the Zia Park Derby on Nov. 25. The Cipriano Contreras trainee has posted a trio of morning drills at this venue in advance of his second run off the log layoff, and he will not need much improvement to be a menacing foe on this occasion. The $180,000 juvenile purchase has displayed a measure of early foot in each of his three lifetime runs to date, and I envision him tracking the pace from second early in this endeavor with Francisco Arrieta in the stirrups. 

Kenny McPeek’s #1 First Division (4-1) ran a lifetime best Brisnet Speed rating after a six-month break when posting a convincing allowance victory on the oval on Dec. 12. The Omaha Beach colt likes both the course and the distance, and the $15,000 bargain purchase is also stakes placed at Oaklawn, as well. The Indiana-bred bay will be in the mix late with even minor improvement second time back under the guidance of Emmanuel Esquivel.