Live Racing Season Returns to Oaklawn!
Jennifer Hoyt over at Oaklawn Park always keeps us posted with great information about the live Thoroughbred racing season in Hot Springs. She has sent the below details about the return of the racing season for Oaklawn’s 2014 live meet. The season opens Friday, January 10 and goes through April 12. Overall, the 57-day meet offers more than $20 million in purses and 31 stakes, highlighted by the 78th running of the popular $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 12.
According to a news release sent by Hoyt, ‘Oaklawn’s 3-year-old stakes program is one of the most successful in the nation and last year, it produced likely Champion 3-year-old Will Take Charge and Oxbow, whose victory in the Preakness Stakes was the 10th Triple Crown race won by an Oaklawn-raced horse in 10 years.’
New this year is the launch of OaklawnAnywhere.com. This allows fans to enjoy live racing from anywhere by being able to watch and wager on races through their smart phones, tablets and personal computers. It’s free to open an account and members have access to all the Oaklawn races and races from the most popular U.S. and international tracks.
Oaklawn will open for the live racing season on Friday, January 10 and will continue every Thursday-Sunday through April 12. They will also have live racing on Monday, Jan. 20 ( Martin Luther King Jr. Day) and Monday, Feb. 17 ( President’s Day). Here is a link to neat promo video to get you in the racing spirit.
The meet will begin with the traditional $.50 corned beef sandwiches opening Saturday, Jan. 11 and end with the Racing Festival of the South which starts Saturday, April 5 with the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) and concludes Saturday, April 12 with the Arkansas Derby and three other stakes April 12. Next to Arkansas Derby Day, the most anticipated event at Oaklawn is Rebel Stakes Day, Saturday, March 15.
Hoyt added in the release that Oaklawn will open its Infield, complete with a Beer Garden, live music and family-friendly activities, every Saturday from Rebel Stakes through the Arkansas Derby. The “Dawn at Oaklawn” program returns Saturday, Feb. 15 and allows guests to visit with the horses and top racing personalities from 7:30 – 9:30 a.m. every Saturday through the end of the meet. Visitors can also take barn tours as part of the Saturday morning program.
Post times will be 1:30 p.m. Central on weekdays and Sundays and 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Some exceptions are Opening Day, Jan. 10, Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2 and the two holiday Mondays, Jan. 20 and Feb. 17, when first post is 1 p.m. For more information, visit Oaklawn.com.