Oaklawn: Water main break temporarily shuts down gaming

Oaklawn Park was forced to close down its gaming operations Saturday night after a water main break along Central Avenue in Hot Springs, but the track is scheduled to race on Sunday.

The break happened after Saturday’s races let out, with water service to the track down from about 7 to 9 p.m. Hot Springs fire officials dispatched pumper trucks to the track for emergencies, and to supply any needed water to horses in the stable area.

“This was an unfortunate circumstance that came at a very busy time,” said Eric Jackson, general manager of Oaklawn. “We'd like to thank to city manager Lance Hudnell for his direct involvement and we appreciate the quick response by city utilities, city police, and city fire department. It's just unfortunate that it came at such a bad time and we do apologize to our full house of customers. We look forward to being up and running for both racing and gaming Sunday.”

Oaklawn had a large crowd on hand for gaming at the time of the water main break, which caused flooding along parts of Central Avenue.