Allure of record purses draws new faces to Oaklawn meet

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The great Arkansas gold rush of 2020 starts Friday at Oaklawn Park.

The 57-date meet, which runs through May 2, has drawn a slew of new stables and all are panning for the meet’s record purse money.

There are four $1 million races – the Arkansas Derby, Apple Blossom, Oaklawn Handicap, and Rebel – on the $10.7 million stakes calendar. Oaklawn officials project purses to average $600,000 a day.

“We’re very excited,” said Lou Cella, president of Oaklawn. “We really are focused on a new level of excellence. That’s really our mantra. Last year it was ‘stay until May.’ This year, it’s a new level of excellence because of the purses we’re offering. It’s raising the bar. We’re getting some outfits we’ve never seen before. That does not mean we’re going to cut out the local guys that have been with us forever. It means giving other national trainers an opportunity to compete with our guys.”

Steve Asmussen – attempting to tie the record of 11 titles at Oaklawn - is one of five Hall of Fame trainers with local divisions, alongside D. Wayne Lukas, Nick Zito and newcomers Jerry Hollendorfer and Shug McGaughey. In all, there are about 15 new stables at Oaklawn.

“It’s one of the tracks that stands out, especially for purses and a lot of important races,” Hollendorfer said. “We’ll see how we do. I understand the competition is tough, and that’s how it should be.”

Oaklawn’s training ranks also include new divisions from the Southern California-based John Sadler, Peter Miller and Phil D’Amato, while West Coast riders Tyler Baze, Martin Garcia and Joe Talamo meet defending champ David Cohen. New barns from the East Coast include a division from the New York-based Jeremiah Englehart.

“We also drew more trainers out of the Kentucky base,” said Pat Pope, racing secretary at Oaklawn.

They include Mike Maker and Tom Amoss.

“In my opinion, Oaklawn has the most up-and-coming purse structure in the entire nation,” Amoss said. “From an economic standpoint, you’ve got to participate.”

Oaklawn’s purses are driven in large part by its ontrack casino, which was to have opened an expanded area Thursday. Cella said it increases the number of player positions from 1,200 to approximately 1,700, with the eventual capacity to be 2,000. A new, seven-story hotel and events center overlooking the first turn is in the works. The entire $130 million “gaming side” project is privately funded, with the hotel to be completed by December.

“We can’t just have a warehouse of slots,” Cella said. “We need to have the amenities. We have to have the hotel. Our goal is four-star amenities. Perhaps five star.”

Patrons returning Friday will get a feel for the future look of Oaklawn.

“The skyline has changed dramatically from the hotel and events center going up,” said Wayne Smith, general manager of Oaklawn.

On the racing side, Smith said much work was done during the offseason.

“We have six new barns, a new stable gate, and new stable entrance,” Smith said. “We’ve rebuilt and moved the track kitchen. We’ve put in an exciting new screen on the south end of the racetrack and we’ve enhanced our air conditioning-HVAC program to help get us through those warm days in April and May.”

There are also key upgrades to the stakes schedule.

“Every year we are really focused on the 3-year-old program here,” Pope said. “The Rebel is $1 million, and the Southwest has gone up to $750,000. I mean, wow!”

The Grade 3 Southwest on Feb. 17 and the Grade 2 Rebel on March 14 are among the meet’s four Kentucky Derby points races. The offerings start Friday with the Smarty Jones and conclude April 11 with the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. The main event for 3-year-old fillies, the Grade 3 Fantasy, has seen its purse boosted from $500,000 to $600,000.

“The other big news is we’re trying to expand the Racing Festival of the South to two weeks,” Pope said.

An annual grouping of major stakes, the Racing Festival of the South opens April 10 with the Fantasy and continues with the Arkansas Derby, Grade 3 Count Fleet,and Oaklawn Mile on April 11. The Apple Blossom and Oaklawn Handicap – both boosted in value from $750,000 – help extend the festival to April 18.

The meet runs into May for the second year and the meet will again close with the $300,000 Oaklawn Invitational. Last season it carried a Preakness berth and produced a Grade 1 winner in Math Wizard.

This season, Pope said the first two cards of the meet have drawn an average of 10 horses a race, pulling on a full stable area of 1,450 horses and some 1,800 sets of foal papers on file.

It would seem the rush is on – to hit paydirt.