Apple Blossom gets purse increase

The purse of the Apple Blossom Handicap has been raised to $700,000 in the most significant change to the 31-race stakes schedule for the Oaklawn Park meet that opens Jan. 12. Last season, the race was worth $600,000 when won by champion Stellar Wind.

Oaklawn’s stakes calendar, which features four races offering Kentucky Derby qualifying points, will be worth a track-record $8.53 million in 2018.

The Apple Blossom, a 1 1/16-mile race on April 13, is one of two Grade 1 stakes at Oaklawn. The $1 million Arkansas Derby will close out the season April 14. The stakes anchor the annual Racing Festival of the South, a grouping of major races over the final week of the meet. The Apple Blossom will share a card with a Kentucky Oaks prep, the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy.

In another change to the stakes schedule, the purse for the Essex Handicap has been boosted from $250,000 to $300,000. The 1 1/16-mile race will be run March 17. Last meet, Mor Spirit shipped in and won the Essex two races before his tour-de-force performance in the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont.

Oaklawn’s outstanding program for 3-year-olds starts with the $150,000 Smarty Jones at a mile Jan. 15. The Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest at 1 1/16 miles follows on Feb. 19. Last meet, those two races each awarded 17 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

The 3-year-old action escalates March 17 with the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel, a 1 1/16-mile race that was worth 85 points in 2017. The meet’s final stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby is the 170-point Arkansas Derby. The 1 1/8-mile race will be supported by three other stakes on closing day, including the Grade 2, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap at the same distance and the Grade 3, $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at six furlongs.

The Rebel shares a card with the Essex and Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri, which is the local stepping-stone to the Apple Blossom. The Southwest will be part of a program that includes the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap, won last meet by Gun Runner, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Bayakoa, which could produce starters for the Apple Blossom.