Oaklawn moves Arkansas Derby date to within three weeks of Kentucky Derby
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Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., will move the Arkansas Derby back to a date that is three weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby in 2027, according to a stakes schedule released by the track on Thursday.
In 2027, the Arkansas Derby will be held on April 10, making the race the only major Kentucky Derby prep to be run three weeks out from the big race. Oaklawn moved the race to a date five weeks prior to the Derby in 2022, one that it shared with the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.
Oaklawn officials began discussing the change just after wrapping up the track’s meet this year. The Rebel Stakes, the local prep for the Arkansas Derby, will be run next year on March 13 rather than in late February or early March, where it had been for the past four years.
“We might kind of have the [Arkansas] Derby go back to three weeks instead of five weeks and then really create our Rebel as a 'derby' and our Arkansas Derby as a 'derby,' because you just don't see horses running in both anymore,” the track’s president, Louis Cella, told DRF’s Mary Rampellini in late April.
The winner of the Arkansas Derby is awarded 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, virtually guaranteeing the victor a chance to run for the roses. The purse of the Arkansas Derby is $1.5 million.
Oaklawn also said in its announcement that the purse of the Rebel Stakes will be $1.25 million, up from $1 million last year.
One week after the Arkansas Derby card, Oaklawn will run both the Apple Blossom Handicap and the Oaklawn Handicap, with both races carrying purses of $1.5 million next year, up $250,000 each.
Oaklawn has been steadily expanding its race meet and raising its purses over the past several years due to the success of a casino and hotel on the grounds. The 2026-27 meet will start on Nov. 27, the earliest date in the track’s history.
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