Bucking a national trend in horse racing of declining purses, Oaklawn Park has planned the richest stakes schedule in track history for 2015.
The track announced Thursday it will run 31 stakes worth $6,675,000 -- a $300,000 increase over 2014 and exceeding by more than $2 million what it offered seven years ago.
The Grade 2 Rebel March 14 has been increased to $750,000, the mile-and-a-sixteenth race producing recent 3-year-old champions Will Take Charge, Lookin at Lucky, Curlin and Smarty Jones. Hoppertunity, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, won this year's Rebel, worth $600,000.
Both supporting races March 14 undergo purse increases, the Grade 2 Azeri by $100,000 to $300,000 and the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap by $50,000 to $250,000. Close Hatches, a 4-year-old filly trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, won both the Azeri and the Grade 1 $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn this year. The Apple Blossom is scheduled April 10 during the meet-ending Racing Festival of the South.
The Grade 1 $1 million Arkansas Derby, which this year produced three different top-three finishers in the Triple Crown races, anchors the closing-day card April 11. Arkansas Derby winner Danza finished third in the Kentucky Derby, runner-up Ride On Curlin second in the Preakness and Commissioner, who like Danza is trained by Todd Pletcher, second in the Belmont Stakes.
Also on Derby Day are the Grade 2 $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap, won this year by Will Take Charge; the $100,000 Northern Spur and the $100,000 Instant Racing.
"I am continually impressed by what we've been able to accomplish the past several years," said David Longinotti, Oaklawn's director of racing. "The timing of the Rebel and the quality of its field for the past several runnings makes it an important Triple Crown prep in its own right. It is very deserving of a purse increase.
"We also felt by enhancing the purses of the Razorback and Azeri we could build on the Preview Day concept we started in 2014. Last year, we were also able to boost the purse of both the Apple Blossom and the Oaklawn Handicap by $100,000 each, and we're pleased to be able to keep those purses at the $600,000 level for 2015," Longinotti said.
The season begins Friday, Jan. 9 with the $100,000 Dixie Belle for 3-year-old fillies. Two Monday holiday cards offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers, the $150,000 Smarty Jones Jan. 19 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) and the Grade 3 $300,000 Southwest Feb. 15 (Presidents Day).
The Racing Festival of the South starts Saturday, April 4 with the Grade 3 $400,000 Fantasy for 3-year-old fillies. After a three-day break including Easter Sunday, the final week resumes Wednesday, April 8 with the $100,000 Carousel for female sprinters. The Grade 3 $300,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap is the Thursday feature and the Apple Blossom and the $100,000 Bachelor highlight the final Friday card.
For more information about Oaklawn's 2015 season, go online at www.oaklawn.com or call 1-800-OAKLAWN.
Sports on 08/01/2014