2025 Southwest Stakes Worth $1 Million
July 23, 2024
The GIII Southwest Stakes, won by subsequent GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) this year, will be worth $1 million in 2025, Oaklawn Park announced Tuesday. The race was worth $800,000 this year. The second of four Kentucky Derby points races to be contested at Oaklawn, the Southwest will be run Jan. 25 and joins the $1.25-million GII Rebel Stakes and the $1.5-million GI Arkansas Derby as Oaklawn's seven-figure preps for the first race of the Triple Crown. Oaklawn's Derby prep series begins with the Jan. 4 $250,000 Smarty...
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Louis Cella To Deliver Keynote Address at Racing Symposium
July 13, 2024
Oaklawn Park President Louis Cella will deliver the keynote address at the 2024 Global Symposium on Racing at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort this December. Under Cella's leadership, Oaklawn has consistently expanded its racing footprint by lengthening the racing schedule, building a $100-million casino/hotel and by introducing fan-friendly entertainment options, leading to increased attendance and handle. "Under Mr. Cella's leadership, Oaklawn expanded their racing season into December while keeping both their on-track and simulcasting business strong," said Robert Hartman, Race Track Industry Program Chair. "Their racing product continues to strengthen as...
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MGISW Adare Manor Returns To Great Race Place To Win Santa Margarita S.
May 26, 2024
Facing just three rivals, Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) controlled the tempo from the get-go before romping home the easiest of winners in the GII Santa Margarita S. at Santa Anita Sunday. The 1-9 favorite went quickly to the lead and loped along unchallenged through fractions of :23.65 and :48.77. She opened up under her own steam into the lane and was under wraps as she glided under the wire 4 1/4 lengths in front, completing the nine furlongs in 1:50.86. "She broke really sharp out of the gate," said winning...
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Oaklawn Park's 2024-2025 Live Racing Schedule to Include Additional Dates
May 10, 2024
The Arkansas Racing Commission unanimously approved 65 dates for Oaklawn Park's 2024-2025 racing season Monday morning and three additional December dates as well as another holiday Monday highlight the schedule, Oaklawn Park officials announced via presser Friday. Set to start Dec. 6 and run until May 3, the season will again be conducted primarily Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It was tweaked from last season due to calendar changes and business trends including a dark day Apr. 20 in observance of Easter and Feb. 9 being dropped on account of the...
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Trainer Reveals Tyler's Tribe Died from a Collapsed Trachea
May 5, 2024
According to trainer and co-owner Tim Martin, a necropsy performed on the popular Iowa-bred Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) revealed that his death was the result of a collapsed trachea. He died following a workout Wednesday at Oaklawn. Martin said that when the trachea collapsed Tyler's Tribe was deprived of air and oxygen, which caused him to die. Martin said the problem with the trachea also explains why Tyler's Tribe had on-going problems with bleeding. The gelding bled in each of his last two starts and also bled in the 2022...
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Jon Court Retires
May 5, 2024
Veteran jockey Jon Court rode the final race of his career Sunday afternoon at Oaklawn Park. Court, 63, entered Sunday with 4,263 victories and $114,023,582 in purse earnings in his career, totals that rank 67th and 59th, respectively, in North American history, according to Equibase. "It's time," Court said moments after his final career stakes mount, Navy Seal, finished fifth in the Arkansas Breeders' Saturday at Oaklawn. "It's something I've been thinking about for a while. People have been asking me a lot. I've had a great 43 years. I'm...
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Blue-Collar Hero Tyler's Tribe Dies Following Workout Wednesday at Oaklawn; Trainer Temporarily Banned
May 2, 2024
What started out as one of racing's best feel-good stories in years ended in tragedy Wednesday at Oaklawn when the fleet Iowa-bred Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) died following a four-furlong workout. Afterward, the track issued a press release in which it said that trainer Tim Martin's entries for the final week of racing at Oaklawn were being scratched by the stewards. "In the interest of all parties, Oaklawn must take these actions to properly investigate the matter," the statement read. It also said that there would be an investigation regarding...
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Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings, Apr. 18-24
April 24, 2024
Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Candelario Villamar has been suspended 15-days and fined $1,000 after his trainee, Olivia's Choice, tested positive for capsaicin when finishing third at Turf Paradise on Feb. 26. A Class B controlled medication under HISA, capsaicin is the active ingredient in chilli peppers causing burning and irritation, and can be found in topical analgesics. Trainer Valorie Lund has been banned seven days and fined...
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The Week in Review: At Hawthorne, They Try Harder
April 21, 2024
A casino is supposed to be on the way, but in the meantime these are tough times for racing in Chicago and its only remaining racetrack, Hawthorne. They still don't have any outside revenue from a casino, their purses are meager and their simulcast signal gets lost on days like Saturday, when they went up against the likes of Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Keeneland, Oaklawn and Santa Anita. The handle Saturday was $1,019,178. It should have been three times that. We've seen a lot of tracks experiment with lower takeouts. The latest...
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Curlin Filly Flashy Dancer Tabbed as a 'Rising Star' at Oaklawn
April 20, 2024
Gary and Mary West homebred Flashy Dancer (f, 3, Curlin--Actress, by Tapit) came from out of the clouds to earn 'TDN Rising Star' honors for trainer Brad Cox at second asking at Oaklawn Park Saturday. The 3-1 chance was off to a slow start and trailed the field of eight through fractions of :23.03 and :46.97 in the 1 1/16-mile affair. Flashy Dancer finally entered the picture rounding the far turn and continued to roll approaching the quarter pole. She still had her work cut out for her, however, as...
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Champion Whitmore Jumps At Any Chance, Especially At Oaklawn
April 19, 2024
HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas--He got the call. They needed him and he was all too ready to oblige once again. Just like any serious athlete, you never really get comfortable with that dreaded word--retired. The chance to strut your stuff in front of the home crowd is just too enticing and probably most of all it is the opportunity to relive the good ole days. For Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), who won three editions of the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H., a GI Breeders' Cup Sprint--which earned him Eclipse honors--and took home...
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Highland Falls Should Sit The Right Trip In Oaklawn 'Cap
April 19, 2024
Proxy (Tapit) provided Godolphin with its first winner of the GII Oaklawn H. just 12 months ago and the progressive Highland Falls (Curlin) has legitimate claims to double that tally when he squares off with 10 others in the nine-furlong contest. Trained by Brad Cox--who somewhat surprisingly has never saddled an Oaklawn H. winner--the homebred son of GI Breeders' Cup Distaff upsetter Round Pond (Awesome Again) won three of his first four trips to the post in maiden and allowance company back east and was scarcely disgraced last time in...
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