HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park will have a special entry date for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby, which will be held on March 28, according to track racing secretary Pat Pope. Pope said entries for the 1 1/8-mile race will be taken on Saturday. Entries for the remainder of the March 28 card will be taken Sunday. “What’s new is that the Arkansas Derby will be drawn on the day before, and the rest of the Derby card will be taken on Sunday,” Pope said. :: Live racing action at Oaklawn Park! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Oaklawn followed a similar plan with the Rebel, and Pope said the draw will again be televised on the FOX broadcast of America’s Day at the Races and available on the simulcast feed from Oaklawn. The overnight for the full Arkansas Derby Day card will be out after it is drawn Sunday. Pope said the card could be made up of 13 to 14 races. Other stakes scheduled on the day are the Grade 3, $500,000 Oaklawn Mile and the $200,000 Temperence Hill. There also are two overnight stakes, the American Pharoah and the Eclipse. Oaklawn moved the Grade 2, $1 million Fantasy to the Friday before the Arkansas Derby this meet. The entire Fantasy Day card will be drawn on Friday, Pope said. Pope said if entries go well, he looks for an 11- or 12-race card for Fantasy Day. The undercard is expected to include the $250,000 Matron. “Friday is the regular draw,” Pope said. “The difference is, we’re not drawing the Fantasy until after the first race.” On Saturday, some Arkansas Derby candidates worked over the local surface. Blackout Time got the day’s bullet for a half-mile by covering the distance in 47 seconds. Litmus Test went the same distance in 48.80. The track was fast. Oaklawn’s annual Racing Festival of the South opens Thursday, March 26, with the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile. Oaklawn will be dark the day after the Arkansas Derby, on Sunday, March 29. Pope said in the month of April traditional Racing Festival stakes will be run over various weekends. The Grade 1, $1.25 million Apple Blossom and Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet are April 11. The Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap, $200,000 Bathhouse Row for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles, and the $200,000 Valley of the Vapors for 3-year-old fillies at a mile are all April 18. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.