Oaklawn adds nine stakes to record $13.7 million stakes schedule in 2022-23

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has added nine stakes to its schedule for the 2022-23 season opening in December, and the move expands the rich calendar to 45 stakes worth a record $13.7 million, the track announced Thursday.

Oaklawn opens for a 68-date on Dec. 9 and will race through May 6.

The centerpiece of the stakes schedule remains the Grade 1, $1.25 million Arkansas Derby over 1 1/8 miles on April 1. It’s one of the meet’s four traditional points races for the Kentucky Derby. The Oaklawn series starts with the $250,000 Smarty Jones at a mile on Jan. 1. It continues with the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 28 and the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 25.

Oaklawn will roll out three of its new stakes in December, with the $150,000 Ring The Bell for 3-year-olds and up over six furlongs on Dec. 10 and both the $150,000 Renaissance for 2-year-olds at six furlongs and the $150,000 Year’s End for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on the same card Dec. 31.

“We were pleased with how December racing was received last year, by both racing fans and horsemen,” track president Lou Cella said in a press release. “Now, we’re going to use our stakes schedule to build on that momentum.”

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The Year’s End is something of a new beginning for Oaklawn’s series for potential Kentucky Oaks candidates. The other races for the division come when the calendar turns, with the $200,000 Martha Washington on Southwest Stakes Day, Jan. 28; the Grade 3, $300,000 Honeybee on Rebel Day, Feb. 25; and the Grade 3, $600,000 Fantasy on Arkansas Derby Day, April 1.

Last season, Secret Oath won the Martha Washington and Honeybee and ran second in the newly positioned Arkansas Derby before winning the Kentucky Oaks.

The other new stakes at the meet are the $250,000 Matron for fillies and mares at six furlongs on March 31; the $200,000 Bath House Row for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on April 22; the $150,000 Valley of the Vapors for 3-year-old fillies at a mile April 22; the $150,000 Dig A Diamond for fillies and mares at a mile on April 29; and the $150,000 Lake Ouachita for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles and $150,000 Lake Hamilton for 4-year-olds and up at six furlongs on May 6.

The new races cater to a wide swath of divisions and provide opportunities for some of the meet’s top horses to make one more appearance in the late stages of the meet, which this season will end on Kentucky Derby Day. Last year, the meet ended the Sunday after the Kentucky Derby.

The Arkansas Derby will again be showcased on a card of four stakes, including the Grade 3, $400,000 Oaklawn Mile.

In a new twist, Oaklawn has placed the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom and Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet on the same card April 15, while the Grade 2, $1 million Oaklawn Handicap will now anchor a card of three stakes on April 22. The Apple Blossom and Oaklawn Handicap had previously shared a card at Oaklawn.

Oaklawn plans to race Friday through Sunday most weeks, while adding Thursday cards in March.