Ushering in the new year, the Smarty Jones is the first of four Oaklawn stakes races on the Road to the 2022 Kentucky Derby.
All four local preps have new dates and total $3.25 million in purses.
Oaklawn's longest season includes two January Derby preps worth a combined $1 million. The $250,000 Smarty Jones is Jan. 1 at one mile and the $750,000 Southwest follows Jan. 29 at a mile and one-sixteenth.
Essential Quality this year became the first horse to pair victories in the Southwest and Belmont Stakes. The Smarty Jones honors the 2004 Arkansas Derby winner, who earned a $5 million bonus from the track for sweeping three races including the Kentucky Derby in Oaklawn's centennial racing season.
The Rebel Stakes, traditionally held in March, has been moved to Feb. 26. The $1 million Rebel, at a mile and one-sixteenth, is the first of four Oaklawn races next year with a six-figure purse. Past Rebel winners include 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah and Smarty Jones, who won the Preakness before finishing second in the Belmont when seeking the Triple Crown.
The Arkansas Derby, Oaklawn's oldest race (dating to 1936), is again its richest. Pushed up to April 2, the nine-furlong race has been bumped to $1.25 million. Seven Arkansas Derby starters (including three winners and three runners-up) went on to wear the Kentucky Derby winner's blanket of roses.
All Derby races offer points to the top four finishers provided they run without Lasix (bleeder medication). Effective Sept. 30, any horse with a trainer suspended from the 2022 Kentucky Derby will have his points vacated.
The Smarty Jones and Rebel each offers 10 points to the winner. The Southwest winner receives 50 points and the Arkansas Derby winner 100.
The first points race is the Iroquois Sept. 18 at Churchill Downs. Three other 10-point preps set the stage for the 20-point Breeders' Cup Juvenile Nov. 5 at Del Mar.
The $150,000 Oaklawn Stakes April 23 is a win-and-you're-in race for the Preakness. Laughing Fox, the inaugural winner, ran fourth in the 2019 Preakness while Fulsome did not go on to Baltimore after winning May 1 at Oaklawn.
Oaklawn's first racing season scheduled over two years begins Dec. 3 and runs through May 8. No racing will be held Christmas week, Dec. 24-26, and Easter Sunday, April 17.