Other famous horses which have run at Oaklawn include the last Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, Sunny's Halo, Elocutionist, Afleet Alex, and Curlin. In 1972 the stakes rose to $100,000 the following year saw the inagural running of the Fantasy Stakes, a Grade II lead-in race to the Kentucky Oaks.įor its 100th anniversary in 2004, Oaklawn offered a $5-million bonus to any horse which could win its Derby along with the Rebel Stakes and the Kentucky Derby Smarty Jones collected the prize. Opened in 1905, Oaklawn started enjoying unprecedented popularity after World War II by 1965, the Arkansas Derby became a race with high enough stakes ($50,000 at the time) that attracted top prospects for the Kentucky Derby. The home of thoroughbred horse racing in the state is Oaklawn Racing & Gaming (formerly Oaklawn Park Race Track) in Hot Springs. It hosts the Racing Festival of the South and the Arkansas Derby, and is considered a premier American venue because of the incredible number of champions and Horses of the Year whose hooves have pounded the one-mile dirt oval track.
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