Oaklawn Park, officially, has been known as Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort since March 28, 2019, a change to reflect its transformation from simply a Thoroughbred brand to a regional tourist destination.
The Hot Springs, Ark., venue still offers racing—66 scheduled live dates beginning Dec. 3in an expanded 2021-22 season—but more and more of its business model revolves around a seven-story, 200-room hotel overlooking the first turn. The hotel opened last April, about 10 days before live racing ended, and is the centerpiece of a 23-month, $100 million-plus construction project tied to an adjacent 28,000-square-foot expansion for full-fledged casino gambling and a 14,000-square-foot multi-purpose event center.
Now armed with ancillary perks like a state-of-the art luxury spa, outdoor swimming pool and cabanas, new restaurants and bars, Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort is finally just that—Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort—as it unveils a dramatically different racing calendar.
Oaklawn had been running early January until mid-April before tweaking its dates in 2019, starting two weeks later and extending its season to Kentucky Derby Day, the first Saturday in May. Now, Oaklawn has 10 racing dates in December, including New Year’s Eve, and reduced its normal racing schedule from four days weekly (Thursday-Sunday) to three days (Friday-Sunday) in 2021-22. Oaklawn will close May 8, one day after the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), to try and capture more of the off-track wagering market.
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"I think there's a lot of things that have been going on over the last number of years," Oaklawn general manager Wayne Smith said. "We’ve tried a number of things and this is just kind of that next evolution in trying to get more dates in and being able to incorporate some of the new amenities. That helped the decision, for sure."
Oaklawn had scheduled 57 live racing dates the past few years, but some Kentucky horsem*n who traditionally winter in Hot Springs said they took an economic hit because of roughly seven weeks of downtime after Churchill Downs closed in late November. Two prominent trainers said they lost horses because of the window between Churchill Downs and Oaklawn.
Oaklawn announced its revamped dates and truncated racing schedule in June and now it’s opening just five days after Churchill's fall meeting ended.
"I think it's awesome," said Ingrid Mason, the second-winningest female trainer in Oaklawn history. "I think it will be just fine. We're used to running three days per week. You've got less horses. Got a horse shortage and then during all this stuff (coronavirus outbreak), people … it's just crazy times we're living in right now. I'm just glad they're racing. I'm so glad I'm still in business."
Smith said he’s cautiously optimistic about the 2021-22 meeting, among the longest scheduled in Oaklawn's 117-year history. Oaklawn raced a record 67 dates in 1988. Oaklawn opened Nov. 5 in 1945, but that was after its traditional spring meeting was postponed and moved to the fall because of World War II. The 30-day meeting ended Dec. 8.
"Our quality is going to be there—the quality of horses, the quality of horsem*n," Smith said. "I think we have about 110 trainers that will be on the backside. We've got, I think, about 17 new trainers coming, either that haven't been to Oaklawn before or coming back after a three- or four-year hiatus. That does afford us the ability to have some high-quality three-day-a-week racing. We don't know how it will go from a fans' perspective. We've gotten it out in the market place, letting everybody know, 'Dec. 3, Dec. 3, Dec. 3.' We're really pushing that. We hope that everybody can change their habits on all the things they used to do, thinking about horse racing in late January versus early December. We hope we've got the message out appropriately. We hope fans will embrace it and maybe this is something that we will have for years to come. This year is truly an experiment."
Fueled by gaming revenue, Oaklawn again will offer the country’s highest purses during the winter, with maiden special weights at $84,000 to open the meet and allowance races at least $100,000. Because of the December opening, Oaklawn can card 2-year-old races for the first time since 1975. Friday's inaugural $150,000 Advent, for example, is the first 2-year-old stakes race at Oaklawn since 1973.
Coinciding with the new schedule, Oaklawn moved up many important stakes, including its lucrative series of Kentucky Derby and Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) points races. The Arkansas Derby (G1), worth $1 million since 2004, was raised to $1.25 million and is now five weeks before the Kentucky Derby. It had been three weeks since 1996. Oaklawn also boosted the value of the Smarty Jones Stakes, its first of four Kentucky Derby points races, from $150,000 to $250,000. The Smarty Jones is New Year's Day after being run on opening day, Jan. 22, in 2021.
"It's the experimental season," said Jason Milligan, Oaklawn's vice president of racing. "We hope it works. We think it's going to work from the horsem*n's side. It limits their breaks between races. Obviously, I think it's going to be a home run for the city. I think the hotels and restaurants will really enjoy it."
Among Oaklawn's many off-season cosmetic projects was extensive landscaping and improvements made to the infield. Ponds and decorative fountains near each end eventually will be used for irrigation. There also are three new, enlarged buildings for concessions. Smith said he hopes the infield will open for the first time this season Feb. 26, date of the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds. The Rebel traditionally has been run in mid-to-late March.
The top nine riders from the 2021 meeting return opening day, including perennial leader Ricardo Santana Jr., who is seeking his third consecutive title and ninth overall (all since 2013), and David Cabrera, runner-up to Santana in 2018 and last season.
Also returning is the nationally prominent Florent Geroux, who rode 30 winners in his return to Oaklawn as a regular at the 2021 meeting, Classic-winning Martin Garcia and Francisco Arrieta, who, in his local debut, had 50 winners last season at Oaklawn to finish third in the standings.
Newcomers include 2021 Prairie Meadows champion apprentice Kylee Jordan and apprentice Albert Lopez. Both begin the meet with seven-pound weight allowances.
The colony received a seismic shot in the arm in late November with announcements that Joel Rosario, the country’s leader in purse earnings and stakes victories this year, would winter at Oaklawn, along with Southern California-based Geovanni Franco and Tiago Pereira and Luis Contreras, a two-time Sovereign Award winner (2011 and 2012) as Canada’s top jockey.
Retired Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens will represent Franco, Oaklawn's co-third-leading rider in 2017 with 45 victories, and Pereira, best known for winning the $10 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) in 2010 aboard Gloria de Campeao. Contreras returns after riding 31 winners in 2017 at Oaklawn and 15 in 2018. Agent Joe Santos, who represents Cabrera and Jordan, said he is trying to lure another big-name journeyman to Oaklawn in January.
"I think it's awesome to see all these top connections wanting to come to Oaklawn," said Santos, the son of retired Hall of Fame jockey Jose Santos. "My first year was in 2016 and every year it gets stronger and stronger. I don't see that coming to an end any time soon. The people of Oaklawn have got it figured out. They have done and continue to do a phenomenal job in making racing how it's supposed to be here and they are being rewarded by the strength shown in their race cards."
Led by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the top nine trainers return from the 2021 meeting. Asmussen has a record-tying 11 Oaklawn training titles and his 755 career victories is No. 2 in track history. He ranks first in career purse earnings ($41,704,293) and career stakes victories (96) in Hot Springs. Also returning are 2020 champion Robertino Diodoro; 2020 Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox, who finished third in last season's standings; Karl Broberg, who has collected more than 4,000 career victories; and Ron Moquett of Hot Springs.
Oaklawn's beefed-up offseason recruiting efforts helped land, among others, newcomers Norm Casse, Rodolphe Brisset, Norman Cash, Jeff Metz, Bentley Combs, Rob Atras, and Lindsay Schultz, who recently struck out on her own after assisting Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. Trainer Kenny McPeek will have a division at Oaklawn for the first time since 2018.
Among the horses on the grounds in late November were 2021 Arkansas Derby (G1) winnerSuper Stock and Fantasy Stakes (G3) winnerPauline's Pearl for Asmussen; millionaire and Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes (G2) victorLone Rock for Diodoro; millionaire multiple grade 3 winner Warrior's Charge and 2021 Smarty Jones winner Caddo River for Cox; and Osbourne, a sharp maiden special weightgraduate Nov. 17 at Churchill Downs for Moquett.
Diodoro said marathon specialist Lone Rock is pointing for the inaugural $200,000 Tinsel Stakes at 1 1/8 miles Dec. 18 at Oaklawn. Diodoro also trains grade 2 winner Dream Lith, who is scheduled to have two starts at Oaklawn in advance of the Kentucky Oaks, he said. They are the $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) on Feb. 26 and the $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) on April 2.
Millionaire multiple grade 1 winner Shedaresthedevil is scheduled to return to Oaklawn for the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) for older fillies and mares March 12 and the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) for older fillies and mares April 23, said her co-owner, Staton Flurry, of Hot Springs. Shedaresthedevil won the 2021 Azeri.
Osbourne is scheduled to make his 3-year-old and stakes debut in the one-mile Smarty Jones, Moquett said.
"I think, more than anything, it's just exciting to have racing in December, to race 2-year-olds," Smith said. "It's a great opportunity for our fans to experience Oaklawn again. It's an extended season this year—66 days versus 57—so that's exciting as well. It's a great opportunity for everyone, actually, for horsem*n, for us, and for our fans, to get back at it again."
