HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The M and M Racing operation of Mike and Mickala Sisk seemingly came out of nowhere to win the owner title last year at Oaklawn Park. This year, they’re the stable to beat. The Sisks have about 50 horses pointing to the meet, which opens Friday. They have runners stabled both on and off the grounds, with the bulk of their horses trained by Robertino Diodoro. The Sisks also have local runners with Karl Broberg and Norm McKnight. Oaklawn is a priority for the couple, in part because the Texas residents, who originally are from Tennessee, have a vacation home in Hot Springs. “As long as we’re in horse racing, our goal is to have the owner title there,” said Mike Sisk, 50. “That is our home track.” The Sisks will come out running, with two leading contenders in the lid-lifter Friday. The couple also has horses in the third and fifth races. Overall, the Sisks have horses in 13 of the 27 races to be run over the three-day opening weekend at Oaklawn, and most will be ridden by David Cohen. :: WIN A TRIP TO THE QUEEN'S PLATE: Click here to cast your vote for the 2018 Horse of the Year contest, and be entered to win a trip for two to the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine! The Sisks got into racing in November 2016. After bringing four horses to Oaklawn for the 2017 meet, Mike Sisk met with racing manager Cody Autrey and Diodoro to devise a plan to bid for the 2018 title. The Sisks built their stable up to 20 to 25 horses and managed to win 21 races from 103 starts to capture the Oaklawn title by four wins over Danny Caldwell, who had won the previous four championships in Hot Springs. This year, the Sisks felt it was important to have more horses for Oaklawn. “It’s so hard to claim a horse at Oaklawn because it’s so competitive there,” Mike Sisk said. “Last year, there were multiple 20-plus shakes. If you don’t have a barn when you get there, you’re not going to build it there. This year, we’re ready.” The Sisks have added to their stable by playing the claiming game. “In the last year I bet we claimed and lost 50,” Mike Sisk said. The couple also has made private purchases out of California, Autrey said. “We’ve got a bunch of fresh horses we think are going to be useful,” he said. The couple is invested in young talent, too, having bought a pair of 2-year-olds out of one of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. auctions last year. A colt by Shanghai Bobby, named King of the Testo, and a filly by Central Banker, named Her Kare, are scheduled to debut at Oaklawn. “Last year, we had a couple of allowance horses,” Mike Sisk said. “This year, we’ve got seven to 10 horses that will run in those allowance races.” Pete’s Play Call, a stalwart for the barn and a personal favorite of Mickala Sisk, could even see stakes action, Autrey said. The Sisks founded Low T Centers, which are testosterone therapy and treatment facilities. They have 47 centers, including one in Hot Springs. Mike and Mickala Sisk seek their second straight owners title at Oaklawn. The Sisks, who founded a chain of testosterone therapy and treatment centers, got into racing in 2016. Last year after the Oaklawn meet the couple sent its stable to Belmont Park and tied for second-leading owner at the spring-summer meet. The Sisks also continued racing in the Southwest, winning stakes with Americium and Shotsoft. Overall, the couple ranked as the 11th leading owner in North America in wins last year, with 77 from 306 starts, according to Equibase. The couple’s stable earned $2.3 million, 25th in North America. “I think it’s a big accomplishment to do what they’ve done in two years,” Autrey said. “People say it’s easy, but until you do it, you don’t realize how hard it is. This is something they’ve done at Saratoga, Belmont, and Oaklawn. They’ve had success at major venues.” The Sisks want to continue to improve the quality of their barn, and to that end plans are to breed a handful of mares. One of their best, the stakes winner Summer House, is to be bred this year to Triple Crown winner Justify, Autrey said. Other mares – all based in Kentucky – are on the verge of dropping foals by Frosted and Honor Code. High Fashion Diva, out of a half-sister to Grade 1 winner McKinzie, sells in February at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky, Autrey said. “We’re very happy with the wins we had last year, and this year we want to kind of move to get more quality horses,” Mike Sisk said. “We want to be good stewards of horse racing.” East Coast newbies Last year, many of the new faces that came to Oaklawn invaded from the West Coast – think trainers Peter Miller and Doug O’Neill and jockey Gary Stevens. This meet, there are a couple firsters from the East Coast. Trainer Nick Zito has a 20-horse division in town and said this is the first time he’s wintered outside of South Florida in some 30 years. Jockey Joe Bravo, another staple on the East Coast, will be riding regularly at Oaklawn for the first time, agent Tony King said. Other new faces include jockeys Stewart Elliott and Calvin Borel. All are gunning for Ricardo Santana Jr., winner of the last six riding titles at Oaklawn. Keeping it cool During the off-season, Oaklawn updated its grandstand air-conditioning system to prepare for warmer temperatures running into May, said the track’s general manager, Wayne Smith. Oaklawn also resurfaced its one-mile oval. “We took off our racetrack cushion down to the base, re-screened the track material, added more material – an inch at a time,” Smith said. For the project, Oaklawn brought in track consultant Mick Peterson.