HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Fields for Oaklawn’s annual Racing Festival of the South stakes races are beginning to take shape, with Magnum Moon anticipated to run in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby and champion Unique Bella expected for the Grade 1, $700,000 Apple Blossom Handicap. The Festival comprises seven stakes worth a total of $3.5 million, with the races run over the final three dates of the meet: Thursday through Saturday. It’s the annual grand finale to the Oaklawn season in a concept hatched by the late Charles Cella in 1974. The Arkansas Derby is one of four stakes Saturday on a 12-race program that starts at 12:30 p.m. Central. Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope had six to eight early probables for the Arkansas Derby as of Friday, and said he looks for the list to grow to 9 to 11. “We’re the last highest-points qualifying race to get you into the top 20 for the Kentucky Derby,” he said. The Arkansas Derby will award Kentucky Derby eligibility points to its first four finishers on a scale of 100-40-20-10. The final points race is the Lexington on the same day at Keeneland, at 20-8-4-2. Magnum Moon, with his win in last month’s Grade 2 Rebel at Oaklawn, could go favored over a field that Pope said should also include Rebel runner-up Solomini, Tampa Derby winner Quip, Sunland Derby runner-up Dream Baby Dream, and Machismo. The possibles for the race include Combatant, My Boy Jack, and Tenfold. The Arkansas Derby, at 1 1/8 miles, will be supported by the Grade 2, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap, the Grade 3, $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap, and the $150,000 Northern Spur for 3-year-olds. Entries for the card will be taken Wednesday. The Arkansas Derby draw will be held in a public ceremony on the first floor of the grandstand at Oaklawn. Pope said the Oaklawn Handicap, at 1 1/8 miles, could draw Accelerate, Colonelsdarktemper, Hawaakom, Hedge Fund, Inside Straight, Sonneteer and Untrapped. He said the Count Fleet, at six furlongs, could draw Edwards Going Left, Smart Spree, Whitmore, Wilbo, Wings Locked Up, and Wynn Time. Pope said weights for both races will be released Sunday. The Apple Blossom, for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles, is one of two stakes Friday on a 10-race program. Pope has a working list of six potential starters: Farrell, Fuhriously Kissed, Martini Glass, Mopotism, Streamline, and Unique Bella. He said weights for the race were to be released this past Saturday. The Apple Blossom will offer a record purse this year after being worth $600,000 last season when won by champion Stellar Wind. The Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles shares the Friday card with the Apple Blossom. The Fantasy will award Kentucky Oaks eligibility points to its first four finishers on a scale of 100-40-20-10. Pope looks for the Fantasy field to include Amy’s Challenge, Cosmic Burst, Sassy Sienna, Stronger Than Ever, and Tahoe Dream. Entries for the Apple Blossom and Fantasy will be taken Tuesday. Flights bringing horses to town are scheduled to start running Monday, with the first plane due in from Florida, the base for Magnum Moon. A flight from Southern California, the base for Unique Bella, is due Wednesday. Oaklawn’s infield is scheduled to open Friday and Saturday, said Wayne Smith, the track’s general manager. He said food trucks will be part of the infield festivities both days. The area also will house a number of corporate tents. Attendance for Saturday’s closing-day program could top 60,000. Forecasters at The Weather Channel are calling for a high of 72 degrees for Arkansas Derby Day, and a 30 percent chance of morning showers. There is a greater chance for rain Friday. The first Festival stakes is the $150,000 Bachelor, which is for 3-year-olds at six furlongs on Thursday. Those expected to start include Bourne in Nixa, a stakes winner at the meet who shares the same ownership as Magnum Moon: Robert and Lawana Low. The Arkansas Derby and Apple Blossom are the lone Grade 1 races run in the Southwest region, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.