In a state without a professional sports team, Oaklawn Park fills the competitive void nicely, thank you.
The roar from the grandstand one hears in any big race at Oaklawn is matched only in Arkansas at a football stadium or basketball arena where the Razorbacks are playing. If, say, a Smarty Jones or Whitmore -- a crowd favorite -- be competing, it's like Arkansas scored in the fourth quarter to beat the Texas Longhorns.
Spring, summer, fall, winter and Oaklawn: They don't call it Arkansas' fifth season for nothing.
Ron Moquett, a Greenwood native who lives in Hot Springs, can see it all from his home just off the Oaklawn backstretch. On the eve of the 117th season of live racing at Oaklawn, Moquett had a good line on the racing habits of many Arkansas patrons.
"They're sitting at home, reading their racing forms and getting ready for the first day at Oaklawn," he said.
The plant's official name of Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort signifies changing times within the sport. It's come to include a 200-room hotel and convention center.
Although casino gambling appeals to many who might never place a bet, live racing represents the driving force of the operation. A day at the races is measured more by fan pleasure than profit made.
This is what the late Charles J. Cella passed on to son Louis, who begins his fourth season as Oaklawn's track president, a fourth-generation racing executive.
"We're still around," says Cella. "From generation to generation ... we have a philosophy that is very simple, but I think it is a formula that works. And that is, 'don't demagogue. Have a relationship with the horsemen. Do what's right and do what's best for the horse, period. And do what's best for the fan."'
Starting with a free gate and offering concessions lower than at most sporting events in America, Oaklawn is all about customer service.
"Our fans know they are going to have a very good time in a very comfortable environment," Cella said in an interview with Louisville-based website Horse Racing Nation. "It's a fun atmosphere. We sell fun. That's what we're doing. If we sell fun, the sport will follow because that's part of the run."
Fans develop attachments with certain horses, some who point for the Oaklawn meeting. One such horse is 8-year-old Whitmore, who comes off a career-defining victory in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland. Winning seven stakes over the track in five seasons, Whitmore has earned more than $4 million for an ownership group including the 48-year-old Moquett.
"I'm just glad he came into our barn," Moquett said. "I don't care if people don't know who I am."
One day recently in a Hot Springs supermarket, Moquett spotted a patron wearing a Whitmore T-shirt that referred to Hot Springs and the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap, a local race Whitmore has won a record four times. "Whitmore was his favorite horse," Moquett said, "and he said his wife had the shirt made for him for Christmas. He didn't know me from Adam. I asked him who trained the horse. He said, "Damned if I know, he's just my favorite horse."
Another beloved Oaklawn horse is Smarty Jones, the poster child of the track's 2004 centennial racing season. Charles Cella traveled to Pennsylvania to present the horse's owners a $5 million check for a three-race sweep including the Kentucky Derby and Arkansas Derby. The $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes today is one of four Oaklawn qualifying races for the 147th Kentucky Derby.
Oaklawn's appeal cuts across party lines -- the late mother of former President Bill Clinton was a track regular; the late Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg once wore a hat from the Donald Trump collection: "Make America Great Again."
In short, it's a place to rejuvenate oneself, pump up tired blood. And it's geared for all ages.
"My energy is better here than any place where I go," says 85-year-old Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas, back for another Oaklawn season after battling the COVID-19 virus in August. "I think it's the air. I think it's the oxygen. What do they say? The trees filter the air. But I have more energy and go on less sleep here than any place I go. I've got a beautiful home in the woods in Kentucky, but I feel better here than any place. You see why people come here and retire."
While other tracks postponed seasons or shortened dates, Oaklawn did not miss a day of live racing after the coronavirus pandemic began in March. Even with strict protocols in place for attendance, the track enjoyed a historic business day May 2 handling more than $41 million on a 14-race card including split runnings of the Grade 1 $500,000 Arkansas Derby.
"We've implemented the same protocols," Cella said, "with even a few more twists that we learned over the summer from other tracks and other professional sports. It is remarkable that, during our season last year, we did not have a single positive case. Not one."
For his part in keeping Oaklawn open, Cella was named 2020 Sportsman of the Year by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
"We have an obligation not only to racing but to folks that are there at the track," Cella said. "At that time of year there are about 1,000 employees on the backstretch. We've got 1,500 of the very finest thoroughbreds in America. We've got our own employees. We've got an obligation to do what's right. We can't just turn the lights off and shut the door and say, 'Go home.' We have to do what's right for them, and that's what really swayed us to continue going."
Top horsemen from across the country are following the money to Hot Springs with Oaklawn projecting averaging daily purses of $700,000. "It's the highest pure rate in America at this time of year," Cella said, "and it's a beacon -- a shining star for racing -- as it has been for a number of years."
The circus is in town, so to speak, through May 1.