Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Recently completed meet to be template for next season
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Original Intent won the final race of the Oaklawn Park meet for the second time in a row Sunday, but the result of the Trail’s End starter allowance was one of just a few similarities between the two seasons.
Oaklawn rolled out a new calendar and adjusted 3-yearold program this meet. The season had its earliest opening in its 118-year history, Dec. 3, and rolled for 66 days.
Oaklawn raced on a Friday through Sunday schedule most weeks, rather than Thursday through Sunday typical of past meets. And the Arkansas Derby was held five weeks out from the Kentucky Derby instead of the traditional three, which led to new dates for each of the points preps at Oaklawn.
“I think it’s been a success,” Lou Cella, president of Oaklawn, said last week. “We did not know what to expect. We did not know if fans would show up, if horses would show up. Frankly, the caliber of horses and caliber of jockeys and trainers – it’s been one of our better seasons. We’re delighted.”
Oaklawn had four champions race at the meet, with Letruska taking the Apple Blossom, Ce Ce winning the Azeri, Jackie’s Warrior winning the Count Fleet, and Storm the Court launching his season in an allowance on the Arkansas Derby undercard April 2. Secret Oath, who wintered at Oaklawn and was third in the Arkansas Derby, won the Kentucky Oaks last Saturday.
Oaklawn handled $411,362,904 this meet from all sources, according to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form. The average daily handle was $6,232,771. Oaklawn ran 627 races.
Last season, Oaklawn raced 51 dates from January to May and handled $284,864,877. The average daily handle was $5,585,586. Oaklawn ran 496 races last season.
Cella said plans are to keep both the new structure of the meet and the repositioned 3-year-old series in place for next season, which will run 68 dates from Dec. 9 through May 6.
“Basically, it mimics this year, except we’re opening the second week in December and we go through Kentucky Derby Day,” Cella said. “It will be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday racing, and we added Thursdays in March.
“We’ll give it another year to compare numbers.”
Oaklawn had added Thursdays in March this meet to make up for dates lost to severe winter weather. Cella said the Thursdays turned out to be the right fit for March.
“We’ve got the daylight savings time to our benefit, have spring break going on, and everybody is ready to get out from the winter doldrums,” he said.
The Arkansas Derby will be run April 1 next year. Cella said the first of the track’s 3-year-old preps, the Smarty Jones, is scheduled to again be on Jan. 1.
Arkansas Derby Day was held April 2 this meet, and Oaklawn drew an estimated crowd of 60,000. Handle on the card from all sources was $25.3 million, according to figures from the track. The Rebel was on Feb. 26 and Oaklawn drew 31,000 patrons and handled $15.6 million.
Both races were run on a Saturday and were part of a trend of large Saturday crowds that emerged over the later months of the meet. Oaklawn drew 30,000 for the Azeri on March 12, and 35,000 were ontrack for the Apple Blossom on April 23.
“That’s been a wonderful surprise,” Cella said.
Cella said plans are to “do a deep dive,” to analyze the reason behind the consistently large crowds on Saturdays.
Oaklawn has been in construction mode over the last few years, completing new barns and its hotel and resort, which is now fully operational. Cella said that during this offseason improvements would be more contained.
“As for development at Oaklawn, we’re finally going to take a break,” Cella said. “A couple of projects this summer will be within the grandstand.”
The Shortleaf Stable operation of Arkansas resident John Ed Anthony won the owner title with 19 wins from 76 starts. The stable also led all owners in earnings with a track-record $2 million.
Steve Asmussen won his 12th training title at Oaklawn, which is a track record. He saddled 65 winners from 379 starts. The stable’s horses earned $4.8 million, which led all trainers at the meet.
David Cabrera, who has been sidelined since sustaining injuries in an April 8 race, won his first Oaklawn riding title with 62 wins from 371 mounts. The battle went down to the wire, with Francisco Arrieta, who had 61 wins, ending up third in the Trail’s End aboard favorite Indian Gulch. Cabrera was on hand to receive the trophy, flanked by family in a presentation made after the last race. He is scheduled to resume riding at Lone Star Park. Ricardo Santana Jr. led all riders at the meet in mount earnings with $4 million.
There were 691 claims this meet for a total of $13,917,000, according to Oaklawn.