Stall applications for Oaklawn Park's 2018 season are available online at www.oaklawn.com or by calling 501-701-5570.
Horsemen will find several changes on the stall-application form, mostly concerning eligibility rules. Starting in 2018, horses must have started for more than $5,000 or have finished first through fourth in a $5,000 claiming race to be eligible for a stall to enter. Oaklawn has also raised the minimum claiming price from $5,000 to $6,250.
Maidens must have started for more than $7,500 or finished second through fourth in a $7,500 maiden-claiming race to receive consideration for a stall. In addition, 6-year-old maidens and horses 10 or older will not be allowed to start unless approved in advance by the racing secretary and stewards.
Oaklawn recently announced a stakes schedule of 31 races valued at $8,525,000 for the 57-day season, Friday, Jan. 12-Saturday, Jan. 14.
For more information, visit www.oaklawn.com or call 1-800-OAKLAWN.
Reddies to honor
1978-79 hoops team
Team members and former coaches Grady Bean and Dean Lee will receive induction to the Reddie Hall of Honor for their connection with Henderson State University's 1978-79 men's basketball squad.
The ceremony will take place Friday, Sept. 29 at Garrison Center Grand Ballroom in Arkadelphia with a social hour at 6 p.m. followed by the dinner and ceremony at 7 p.m.
Going 28-4 and reaching the NAIA championship game in Kansas City, Mo., the 1978-79 Reddies capped a string of seven straight Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference titles and three appearances in the NAIA Final Four.
Led by legendary coach Bobby Reese, the Reddies used 10 to 12 players in a game when most teams played six or seven. The squad played a fast-breaking offense and full court man-to-man defense, concepts ahead of their time and similar to the way the game is played today.
Bean, of Amity, was a junior guard and Lee, of Berryville, a senior forward on the 1978-79 Reddie squad. Bean currently lives in Hot Springs and Lee, a former Arkansas State University athletic director, in Hot Springs Village.
Others on the team were guard Terry Deloney, then of Texarkana; guard John Hansen (Cherokee Village); guard Melvin Oatis (Hattiesburg, Miss.); guard Tilman Wolfe (Marvell); guard John Gaddie (Pine Bluff); forward Anthony Avery (Monticello); forward Chris Lockheart (Bearden); forward/center Alton Brown (Poplarville, Miss.); forward Alvin Russell (Goree, Texas); center/forward Rickey Fisher (New Boston, Texas); forward Jeff McCuien (North Little Rock); center/forward John Aitken (Helena) and center Bruce Hines (Monroe, La.).
Reese, a Kirby native who died in a 1980 automobile accident, was assisted by Jimmy Allen. Reese was selected to the Reddie Hall of Honor in 1998 after coaching HSU to a two-year record of 44-14.
Tickets to the Reddie Hall of Honor ceremony are $15 each and available by calling the school's athletic department at 870-230-5161. Inductees will be honored in an on-field ceremony before the Henderson State-Southern Nazarene football game at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.
Sports on 08/12/2017