Fresh off the heels of outstanding performances by Oaklawn Park grads Mystik Dan and Thorpedo Anna in this year's Kentucky Derby (G1) and Kentucky Oaks (G1), the Hot Springs, Ark., oval reignites Dec. 6 in anticipation of their 2024-25 winter-spring meeting.
Heading into the 65-day race meet, Oaklawn Park's backstretch is filled to capacity with just shy of 1,500 horses for 110 different trainers, including 20 new outfits. Newer faces to the barn area this year include Hall of Famer Mark Casse and Saffie Joseph Jr.
"When you look at racing across the country, you see declines and short fields," said Oaklawn president Louis Cella. "At Oaklawn, we're averaging 10.5 horses per race on our opening weekend. Our star is shining bright and people are aware of that and coming to us."
For the 2024-25 meet, Oaklawn offers the highest distribution of purses of any North American track during the winter-spring racing season. The track will offer 47 stakes races for a total of $16 million (which saw a $1 million increase from last year) with a $110,000 purse on the table for maiden special weight races and a starting purse of $130,000 for allowance contests.
"Those purses are about as good as you're going to get," Cella said. "We have a thorough and great blend of races from our claiming all the way up to our super stakes.
"We're excited to kick off our 121st season. A few years ago we started opening in December and you never know what Mother Nature's going to bring you but it looks like we should have some sunshine for opening weekend. We're looking forward to it."
This year will be the third year Oaklawn begins its season in December and concludes the first week of May—a decision that has ultimately proven beneficial to the track, horsemen, and the city of Hot Springs.
"For our horsemen, they had nowhere to run in December after Kentucky closed up, they were kind of sitting on the sidelines until we opened in January," Cella said. "And then we worked with our city, the city of Hot Springs, and they said we're dying in December we'd love to have the tourism in December, so that jumpstarted them. So it's a win-win across the board for our horsemen and our city."
To prepare for the meet, which Cella refers to as "a marathon, not a sprint," Oaklawn hired 800 staff members in addition to the track's 800 year-round employees. As for infrastructure, Oaklawn expanded its Winning Colors Gift Shop as well as extended the popular Pony Express Grill out to the apron, where the restaurant is now accessible to guests from the outside.
As for capital improvements for the horsemen, the Arkansas Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association has paid to install internet service to all 38 barns on the Oaklawn backstretch as well as cover the monthly usage bill. Additionally, Oaklawn completed its annual inspection of the base and replenishment of the top 6-7 inches of track cushion during the summer.
Taking care of the track surface is just one of Oaklawn's several safety initiatives. The track, which has embraced the implementation of HISA from very early on, will continue to utilize its integrity and whistleblower program into the new racing season. The whistleblower program, in which horsemen can leave anonymous tips, is going on its sixth year, while the track's integrity protocols and standards have been in place for over a decade.
"We have a great racing relationship with our horsemen and our regulators. We are all in lockstep," Cella said. "We all go after the bad guys. We started a whistleblower program six years ago and people take advantage of that and we investigate. We had an integrity team before integrity was even a thing, whereas they can investigate not just the front and backside but they can go to neighboring farms. And that's part of the condition of coming to Oaklawn, if you run a clean operation you don't need to worry about it, but if you want to cut corners we're going to catch you."
Cella remarked that Mystik Dan and Thorpedo Anna's success in the Derby and Oaks was just a testament to Oaklawn's racing secretary Pat Pope and his role in developing the track's strong 3-year-old program.
"It was (Pope's) idea of stretching out the 2-year-old program to when they become 3. Now trainers can start as early as December to train their horses toward points races," Cella said. "Trainers can pick and choose what race is best for their horse to mature and blossom to hit the holy grail of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. We're fortunate to have many point races for both the boys and the girls. This is the place to go if you want to have an opportunity at the Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Oaks."
While Mystik Dan was third in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1), which carries the highest purse of any Derby prep race offered in the country, the colt began his season with a fifth in Oaklawn's Smarty Jones Stakes in January before capturing the Southwest Stakes (G3) in February. Thorpedo Anna launched her sparkling 2024 campaign with a victory in Oaklawn's key Oaks prep in the Fantasy Stakes (G2).
Friday's opening day features a 10-race card and is highlighted by the $150,000 Advent Stakes for 2-year-olds going 5 1/2 furlongs. First post is 12:30 pm CT.
