Oaklawn Park is upping the ante in its quest to lure racing's top horses, particularly 3-year-olds with Kentucky Derby aspirations, to the Hot Springs track for the 2016 season.
Two of Oaklawn's four Derby preps -- the Feb. 15 Southwest Stakes and March 19 Rebel Stakes -- picked up an extra $350,000 in purse money to make them two of the most lucrative Road to the Derby races in their spots on the schedule.
The purse for the Grade II Rebel, which was $125,000 in 2003, has increased from $750,000 in 2015 to $900,000. The Grade III Southwest Stakes will see an increase from $300,000 to $500,000.
"The Rebel has become its own Kentucky Derby prep race," Oaklawn's Director of Racing David Longinotti said. "It's not just a prep for the Arkansas Derby anymore. It's exciting to see that we have both the richest prep race in the country in February and the richest prep race in the country in March."
American Pharoah, who became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years earlier this year, launched his 3-year-old campaign with a 6 1/4-length victory in the Rebel Stakes on March 14. The Bob Baffert-trained horse went on to dominate the Arkansas Derby in April.
"We would love to accomplish what we did last year, but Triple Crown winners don't come around that often," Longinotti said.
Churchill Downs replaced the old graded stakes earnings system in 2012 for a new points system to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.
In the updated system, the top four finishers in the biggest seven races earn Road to the Kentucky Derby Points on a 100-40-20-10 scale. The races include the six most high-profile Derby preps -- the Arkansas Derby, the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds, the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, the Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita, and the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland -- along with the UAE Derby in Dubai.
Eight races held in the months before those seven stakes races -- including the Rebel Stakes -- will earn points on a 50-20-10-5 scale. The other seven races are: the Risen Star at Fair Grounds, the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream, the Gotham at Aqueduct, the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs, the San Felipe at Santa Anita, the Spiral at Turfway and the Sunland Derby at Sunland Park.
"With the shift from graded stakes earnings to the points system, if you win the Rebel, you'll get into the Kentucky Derby," Longinotti said.
Oaklawn has two other races when 3-year-olds can earn Road to the Derby points -- the $150,000 Smarty Jones on Jan. 18 (10-4-2-1) and the Southwest, which also awards points on a 10-4-2-1 scale.
"For a long time, the money wasn't here," Longinotti said. "Many of the most well-known trainers didn't come here until the Arkansas Derby. ... We hope we can tempt some of those folks to get here early and stay for the entire meet."
Baffert has trained Rebel Stakes winners in five of the last six years.
"One of the reasons Baffert has said he likes coming to Oaklawn is that our surface is a lot like the one at Churchill," Longinotti said. "We want to draw some of the other big trainers to Oaklawn. We're certainly going to go after them."
The 3-year-old races are not the only category getting a boost in purses at Oaklawn.
A 31-race, $7.55 million stakes program has been unveiled, with increases announced in 13 races, with significant upgrades coming in races for older horses.
The Grade II Oaklawn Handicap goes from $600,000 to $750,000 while the Grade III Razorback Handicap bumps from $250,000 to $300,000. The boost to the Oaklawn Handicap, which shares the card with April 16 Arkansas Derby, and the Razorback, which is part of the Rebel Day card, help create two of the richest days for Oaklawn. Rebel Day will feature $1.5 million in stakes purses while Derby Day will feature $2 million in stakes purses.
Other significant changes to the 2016 stakes schedule include at $100,000 increase to the Grade III Count Fleet Sprint Handicap, which will now be worth $400,000 and be run on a Sunday, April 10, for the first time. The April 14 Carousel Stakes for older female sprinters received a $50,000 boost to $150,000. All five Arkansas-bred stakes were raised $25,000 to $100,000 and the Northern Spur and Instant Racing Stakes, which share the closing-day card with the Oaklawn Handicap and Arkansas Derby, were both increased $25,000 to $125,000.
Oaklawn's live meet begins Friday, Jan. 15. The Racing Festival of the South, which runs Saturday, April 9 to Saturday, April 16, will now feature nine stakes races worth a combined $3,650,000.
Sports on 07/25/2015