Southwest, Rebel get purse boost

On the heels of hosting Smarty Jones and then Afleet Alex the last two winters, Oaklawn Park will put further emphasis on its 3-year-old program in 2006 by boosting the purses for the Rebel and Southwest stakes.

They are part of a 27-race, $4.5 million stakes schedule at the track, which will run 56 days next year, from Jan. 20 through April 15.

Oaklawn raised the purse of the Arkansas Derby to $1 million in 2004, and that won't change for the 2006 season. But the two preps for that race will be richer. The Southwest purse has been increased from $100,000 to $250,000 for 2006, while the Grade 3 Rebel has been kicked up from $250,000 to $300,000.

Smarty Jones won all three of those races in 2004 en route to wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, while Afleet Alex captured the Arkansas Derby this year before going on to win the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

The Southwest, at one mile, will be run on Presidents' Day, Feb. 20, for the first time, with the 1 1/16-mile Rebel to be decided on March 18. The Arkansas Derby, at 1 1/8 miles, will close out the meet April 15.

Other highlights of the 2006 stakes schedule include the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom and the Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap, which will share a card on April 8 and herald the start of the Racing Festival of the South, when at least one stakes worth a minimum of $100,000 will be decided on each of the final six days of racing at Oaklawn.

The purse increases to the Rebel and Southwest were made possible in part by revenue from Instant Racing, a parimutuel game that plays like a slot machine. The electronic devices operate in a room on the first floor of the grandstand at Oaklawn.

2006 stakes schedule

*Arkansas-bred