Elevated Arkansas Derby highlights 54-day Oaklawn meet

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas, kicks off its 54-day season on Friday,
the start of a four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend at the track.
Oaklawn will race four-day weeks (Thursdays through Sundays) through March 21.
The lone exception is Presidents Day weekend, which this year creates a five-day
week from February 11-16.

Summer Bird, the leading contender for champion three-year-old male honors, could become the fifth Eclipse Award winner to compete in the Arkansas Derby since 2004   (EquiSport Photos) Due to Easter falling on April 4, the final two weeks of the racing season, including the Racing Festival of the South, will include only four racing days. The Racing Festival of the South will commence with the Fantasy S. (G2) on April 2 and conclude with Arkansas Derby Day on April 10. That final day will present the highlight of the season, the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1), which showcases an all-distance race card that includes the $75,000 Northern Spur S., the $75,000 Instant Racing S. and the traditional closing Trail’s End, a 1 3/4-mile marathon for starter allowance runners. This year’s Arkansas Derby will have special significance as the American Graded Stakes Committee has elevated the race to Grade 1 status this year. Performances by the likes of Curlin, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, Lawyer Ron, Summer Bird (Birdstone) and others during the past decade have finally cemented the status level of Arkansas’ 1 1/8-mile lead-in to the Triple Crown races.

The Arkansas Derby will be preceded by the $250,000 Southwest S. (G3) on
February 15 and the $300,000 Rebel S. (G2) on March 13, both for three-year-olds. The other major
highlights of the Racing Festival of the South are the $500,000 Apple Blossom H.
(G1) for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles and the $500,000 Oaklawn H. (G2) for
older horses at nine furlongs, both on April 3.

This year the 50-cent corned beef sandwich promotion has been moved to the
opening Saturday to give more fans a chance to participate. The feature on the
Martin Luther King holiday on Monday is the Smarty Jones S., a one-mile event
for three-year-olds which has seen its purse doubled to $100,000 this year.

In addition, all paying customers will receive a commemorative bobblehead
saluting champion filly Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d’Oro), who won both the
Martha Washington S. and Fantasy S. during the 2009 season in which she went
undefeated, including wins over males in the Preakness S. (G1), Haskell
Invitational (G1) and Woodward S. (G1).

In 2009, nearly 60,000 fans passed through the turnstiles on the opening
four-day weekend. The combination of the 50-cent corned beef sandwich promotion,
the $100,000 Smarty Jones S. and Rachel Alexandra bobblehead giveaway gives
Oaklawn officials hopes of surpassing any previous opening weekends of this
century.

“We don’t have a crystal ball,” Oaklawn general manager Eric Jackson said,
“so we don’t know exactly what the economy holds for early 2010. But we are
getting some early indications that hotels are seeing some renewed interest for
early 2010, so we will be cautiously optimistic. One thing we don’t have to be
cautious about, however, is the terrific response we’ve had to our recruiting
efforts and the good feeling that has come with the Grade 1 status given to our
Arkansas Derby. With some recovery from the economy and excitement about new
things going on here, we can anticipate that we will draw more excited fans to
Oaklawn and into the Hot Springs area.”

Perhaps due to the fact Oaklawn was shut down for training for much of the
past week due to inclement weather, Friday’s opening day feature, the $50,000
Dixie
Belle S., attracted only seven three-year-old fillies to go six furlongs.
The likely favorite is DECELERATOR (Dehere), who captured the Debutante S. (G3)
at Churchill Downs last June and enters off back-to-back second-place finishes
in the Golden Rod S. (G2) and Pocahontas S. (G3) for conditioner D. Wayne Lukas.

The Steve Asmussen-trained VERTICAL VISION (Pollard’s Vision), only sixth in the Pocahontas two back,
enjoyed greater success at Prairie Meadows last year with comfortable wins in
both the Prairie Meadows Debutante and Prairie Gold Lassie. She was second in
her most recent start in the Oklahoma Classic Lassie at Remington Park, 1 1/2
lengths behind SHOTGUN GULCH (Thunder Gulch), who had previously won an open
stakes over the same track. RAPID RACER (Forest Wildcat) won the Gowell S. over
Turfway’s Polytrack last time but is winless in two previous attempts on a
conventional dirt surface, while the lightly-raced CROSSFIREHURRICANE (Eurosilver)
adds blinkers following a sharp second-place effort in a Fair Grounds allowance.