Horses return to Oaklawn ahead of historic live meet
In just 60 days, Oaklawn Park will start its historic 2o19 live meet, but an unusually high number of horses had already filled the stalls after the barns opened Monday.
The track opens for training at 7 a.m. Dec. 3. “It’s fun. Normally we don’t have this many horses ship in on the first day barns open so I think that’s just a testament to the excitement of all the things we’ve been doing here at Oaklawn and the announcement made last Monday,” said Jennifer Hoyt, media relations manager.
Oaklawn Racing and Gaming announced a historic $100 million-plus expansion project on Nov. 19 that includes expanded gaming, a high-rise hotel and a multipurpose event center and is possibly the single-largest hospitality investment in the state’s history. The hotel and event center are scheduled to be complete in late 2020.
Hoyt told The Sentinel-Record Monday in addition to the horses arriving for trainer Ron Moquett, Oaklawn expected horses for trainers Jinks Fires, Paul Holthus and Norm McKnight to arrive then, as well.
The barns, she said, will see a steady stream of activity from opening day Jan. 25 until the meet closes on May 4.
“In the past, we’ve opened the barns before Churchill Downs closed its meet, but this year we opened after so people are really ready to come back home,” Hoyt said. “The people who have shipped in today are the ones who have houses here in Hot Springs or they’re from Hot Springs.
“By the first of the meet, every horse will be on the ground. We’re waiting on our Kentucky folks now. Remington Park will close their meet the week before Christmas and those people will start coming in. A lot of the Louisiana people will be in soon. Those horses are at barns nearby.”
Oaklawn announced one of the most significant changes in its racing schedule last spring, shifting the live race meets three weeks and closing out on May 4 — Kentucky Derby day.
Hoyt said the recent announcement of the $100 million-plus expansion, paired with Oaklawn’s recent construction of new barns and a new winner’s circle, have fueled a buzz among horsemen.
“There’s definitely a buzz more than in last year’s,” she said. “Horsemen see all the improvements with the new barns and the new winner’s circle, and top that with our announcement Monday and there’s a lot of excitement.
“No other race track is doing what Oaklawn is doing with increasing purses and putting money back into the racing program.”
Construction on the three new barns and the winner’s circle is essentially complete, she said, with a few finishing touches to be done in the next two months before opening day. Facilities improvements this year have also included fans and a new air conditioning system in the grandstand, as well as an updated Carousel Restaurant.
“For the most part, we’re done with our barns and winner’s circle with the exception of a few finishing touches that will be done in the next few weeks,” Hoyt said. “If we had to put horses in the barns tomorrow, we could. Our winner’s circle, we haven’t put the scale in for the jockeys to weigh in, but that and other finishing touches will be done over the next two months.”
From Central Avenue, passers-by have seen extensive construction in the parking lot at the south end of Oaklawn’s extended gaming area taking place since early October. Hoyt said in early November this work will add more parking for the live meet.
“The biggest part of the construction in the parking lot is the one blocking the front entrance and we’re scheduled to finish that Dec. 14,” she said. “That’s the goal right now so that by the time we start live racing, there shouldn’t be anything blocking the main entrance.”