Oaklawn ‘excited’ to welcome fans despite pandemic
Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort kicked off its 117th season of live racing with a bang, despite a limited number of spectators allowed to attend the races this season.
Just 2,350 spectators were
allowed in the stands for the first day of racing at Oaklawn
open to fans since March 12,
2020.
There were 20,000 spectators in attendance for last season’s opening day of racing on Jan.
24, 2020.
“We were very excited to welcome fans back today,” said Oaklawn General Manager Wayne Smith.
“Overall, it was a great opening day. Everyone seemed to understand and follow our safety protocols, which will continue throughout the meet. Our team members did a great job considering today was a learning experience for us and our fans. We’ll continue to tweak things as we go to further enhance the experience for our race fans. Today, they saw one of the best 3-year-olds in the country in Caddo River and the racing is only going to get better as we race all the way to May.”
Oaklawn reported an ontrack handle of $327,417.80, but it reported a total handle of $5,537,278.98, approximately $253,000 less than last year’s opening day handle.
“It was a very good day,” said Oaklawn Media Relations Manager Jennifer Hoyt. “I mean, the weather was great. You could tell the fans were excited to be back. So, yeah, it was a lot of fun.”
Trainer Brad Cox picked up two wins on opening day off three starts for a $114,400 in earnings on day one, leading the field of trainers after Caddo River won the Smarty Jones Stakes.
Federico Villafranco earned three wins out of five starts. No other trainer finished with more than a single win.
Florent Geroux, who had six mounts on the day, earned three wins, the most of any of
the jockeys who ran on the first day of the 2021 season. Danny Caldwell, of Poteau, Oklahoma, owned two of the nine winners on the day. His two winners were both trained by Villafranco.
The opening weekend continues today, featuring the $150,000 Pippin Stakes with a full field of 12 horses and the $150,000 Fifth Season with seven horses. The Fifth Season is the sixth of nine races on Saturday’s card with a probable post time of 3:39 p.m. while the Pippin is the eighth race of the day with a probable post of 4:47 p.m.
Spectators are limited to those who reserve tickets in advance up to 6,000.
The annual special on corned beef sandwiches and sodas will not be held this year.
The season will run through May 1.