Oaklawn unveils record 2026-27 stakes schedule with $18.79 million purse pool

Oaklawn Park raised the stakes on its 2026-27 meet with a 61-race stakes schedule worth $18.79 million and an opening day of Nov. 27, the earliest in track history. The calendar leans hard into the winter and spring campaigns that matter most to horsemen, with richer preps for 3-year-olds and bigger checks for older dirt runners.

The path to the Kentucky Derby now runs through a more expensive Oaklawn sequence. The Smarty Jones Stakes stays at $250,000 on Jan. 2, the Southwest Stakes climbs to $750,000 on Feb. 6, and the Rebel Stakes jumps to $1.25 million for March 13 after a $250,000 increase. Oaklawn also moved the Rebel to 1 1/8 miles, a notable change for colts and geldings whose connections want a deeper test before the spring classics. The Arkansas Derby remains the meet’s anchor and the final 100-point Kentucky Derby prep, set for April 10 at $1.5 million.

The filly division remains built around the same core route races. The Martha Washington, Honeybee and Fantasy are still the key stops for 3-year-old fillies, and the Fantasy is again listed at $1 million. That gives Oaklawn one of the more lucrative prep programs in the country on both sides of the Derby trail, a setup that should keep top barns in Hot Springs through late winter and early spring.

Oaklawn also pushed its older-horse stakes higher, another move that should widen the meet’s appeal beyond the classic division. The Apple Blossom Handicap and Oaklawn Handicap will each carry $1.5 million purses, up $250,000 apiece, while the Azeri Stakes rises from $400,000 to $500,000. That cluster gives the track a stronger draw for older runners who can handle two-turn dirt stakes and are looking for a deep-money winter target before the national spring and summer schedule tightens.

President Louis Cella said the plan is intended to strengthen Oaklawn’s standing among premier racing destinations while continuing to invest in horsemen and fans. The schedule also gives trainers and owners an early map of the meet, with the holiday-season condition book already available. Oaklawn’s approved live racing calendar runs from Nov. 27 through May 1, includes a one-week break from Jan. 11-17, a Presidents’ Day card on Feb. 15 and Thursday racing on March 11, 18 and 25. The track, which opened on Feb. 24, 1904, has made the move from historic Arkansas institution to major national winter circuit by building its meeting around the races that shape the Derby trail and the older-horse division alike.