Winner of Oaklawn Invitational earns spot in Preakness Stakes

HOT SPRINGS — Race officials at Pimlico Race Course and Oaklawn Park have agreed to make the $300,000 11/8-mile Oaklawn Invitational an automatic qualifier for the Preakness Stakes, scheduled for Pimlico in Baltimore on May 18, Oaklawn announced Saturday.

The Oaklawn Invitational is a stake for three-year-old horses scheduled for May 4, the final day of Oaklawn’s 2019 meet and the date of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

“Maryland contacted us and asked if we’d be interested,” Oaklawn director of racing Jed Doro said. “We said, ‘Well, sure.’ It doesn’t do anything but help our race if anyone’s interested in wheeling back two weeks.”

“Our hope from the beginning was that the Oaklawn Invitational would serve as a prep for the Preakness or Belmont Stakes, so we are excited by this announcement from the Maryland Jockey Club,” Oaklawn general manager Wayne Smith said.

The Preakness is the second race in the Triple Crown Series, following the Kentucky Derby and three weeks before the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., scheduled for June 8.

“We’re happy to partner with Oaklawn Park on this,” Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager Sal Sinatra said.

Oaklawn increased the purse for the Oaklawn Invitational by $50,000 once the agreement was set.

With the Oaklawn Invitational’s new status, a winner of the race will not have to be among the 362 horses currently nominated for the Triple Crown. Preakness starters are limited to 14, so in the event the connections of 14 or more qualifiers request a spot in the field, one will be guaranteed the Oaklawn Invitational winner regardless of his or her earnings in graded stakes races or career earnings in non-restricted stakes.

In November, when Doro considered the possibilities for three-year-old horses at Oaklawn and the ways in which that might be affected by the Oaklawn Handicap, he said he thought fans might see a Preakness or Belmont winner come out of that race.

It appears such an opportunity has gained in significance.

“We’re hoping it will help us attract one or two people on the cusp of the Derby looking for maybe a little bit softer route to the Preakness,” Doro said. “And we’re absolutely hoping it will attract some locals to come out and say, ‘Not only did we see maybe a Kentucky Derby runner, now we get to see another Preakness runner.’ ’’