2026 Champion- Rapper Zapper

After four rounds of competition, we crowned our 2026 OTTB Madness Champion on Monday, April 6th. Congratulations to Rapper Zapper!

The tournament

OTTB Madness started with sixteen off-track Thoroughbreds, all of whom were formerly part of the Wasabi Ventures Stables family. They ranged in age from 5 to 16. There were more mares (11) than geldings (5) in the competition.

Both the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds consisted of four days of voting. With a longer period of time, the voting was steady. For the Final Four and the Championship, each round was a single day event. This made for steady voting throughout each 24-hour period.

The champion

The final round of OTTB Madness 2025 took place on Monday, April 6th. This final contest featured Blo My Budget and Rapper Zapper. At the start of voting, it was an evenly matched battle. However, as the hours ticked on, Rapper Zapper pulled away with the lead, winning with just under 55 percent of the vote.

Rapper Zapper is a 7 year old gelding, who raced for Wasabi Stables for from November 2024 to December 2025. Retired via New Start at Penn National, they sent him to After the Races to find his post-racing home. Initially, Emily came to After the Races to meet another horse. Once she saw Rapper Zapper, she knew this was the horse that was meant for her!

As this year’s champion, Rapper Zapper will receive a bag of horse cookies. New to this year’s championship is the addition of a Wasabi Aftercare hoodie awarded to a randomly chosen voter. Joe V earned this prize.

Thanks to all who participated in OTTB Madness 2026! While we award only one horse, we know the truth is that all of our retirees are champions.