Oaklawn at a glance
Oaklawn is the only place in Arkansas with live thoroughbred racing, and over the last two decades it has built a casino resort around a track that opened in 1904. A winter visit can combine afternoon racing, dinner overlooking the track and a hotel night. Outside the meet, the casino, spa and event center carry the property.
The scale has grown fast since 2019. Louis Cella, the fourth generation of his family to run the Oaklawn Jockey Club, said in 2025 that the resort employs more than 900 people, with another 800 working in the barn area. The resort counts nine restaurants, more than 40 racing concession stands and three gift shops.
The 2026-27 racing schedule
The new meet starts on November 27, 2026, the earliest opening in Oaklawn history; recent meets opened in December or January and ran into early May. The first condition book covers November 27 to January 10, so holiday visitors can catch live racing through the New Year. Stakes total 61 races worth $18.79 million.
| 2027 stakes | Date | Purse |
|---|---|---|
| Smarty Jones Stakes | January 2 | $250,000 |
| Southwest Stakes (G3) | February 6 | $750,000 |
| Rebel Stakes (G2) | March 13 | $1.25 million |
| Fantasy Stakes (G2) | March 27 | $1 million |
| Arkansas Derby (G1) | April 10 | $1.5 million |
| Apple Blossom (G1) and Oaklawn Handicap (G2) | April 17 | $1.5 million each |
The racing schedule moves the Arkansas Derby back to three weeks before the Kentucky Derby, and the Rebel Stakes now runs at 1 1/8 miles. Oaklawn’s spring stakes have long fed the Triple Crown trail, so March and April draw the biggest crowds. The national horse racing schedule shows how the meet fits with other winter tracks.
The Arkansas Derby and its winners
The first Arkansas Derby, in 1936, carried a $5,000 purse. It became a Grade 1 race in 2010 and is the final event of the Racing Festival of the South. Winners include Sunny’s Halo, Smarty Jones and Curlin, and American Pharoah won the Rebel and the Arkansas Derby in 2015 before sweeping the Triple Crown.
A bronze statue of American Pharoah and jockey Victor Espinoza has stood at the grandstand entrance since 2018. Smarty Jones collected a $5 million bonus in 2004 for winning the Rebel, the Arkansas Derby and the Kentucky Derby. The 2026 Arkansas Derby went to Renegade, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. for trainer Todd Pletcher, in 1:49.70.
A track with two finish lines
The main track is a one-mile dirt oval with a chute on the backstretch for six-furlong sprints. Oaklawn uses two finish lines, which shortens the stretch run in some races from the usual 1,155 feet to 825 feet. Stabling is tight as well: about 1,500 stalls, against close to 3,000 horses whose owners want a spot.
Every wager on the races goes into a shared pari-mutuel pool, so the odds move until the gates open; the pari-mutuel betting guide explains the pools. Oaklawn is building a 24-stall receiving and stakes barn and a 36-stall pony and outrider barn, investments aimed at the racing side rather than the casino.
Inside the Oaklawn casino
Oaklawn became a full casino on April 1, 2019, under Amendment 100, which Arkansas voters approved in 2018. Since then the floor has offered slot machines, live blackjack, craps and roulette, and sports wagering. Before 2019 the state allowed only electronic games of skill, approved by a 2005 referendum, on top of the Instant Racing terminals that arrived in 2000.
Oaklawn tested Instant Racing first. Players bet on old races replayed as video, an idea that became historical horse racing in Kentucky, Virginia and elsewhere. Arkansas taxes casino receipts at 13% on the first $150 million a year and 20% above that. Players must be 21, and setting a budget before play keeps a visit in proportion.
Hotel, spa and dining
A $100 million expansion completed in 2021 enlarged the casino and added the Oaklawn Hotel, the Astral Spa and an event center. The Astral Spa has held a Forbes Travel Guide four-star rating for three straight years and is the only spa in Arkansas with it. The hotel and its two signature restaurants first earned Forbes recognition in 2025.
The OAK room & bar is the fine-dining choice, and The Bugler is more casual, with views over the historic track. The event center covers 18,000 square feet and holds up to 1,500 guests; it took over the Broyles Award ceremony from Little Rock and hosts its 30th anniversary in 2026. Hotel guests are minutes from Hot Springs National Park.
Getting there and nearby racinos
Oaklawn sits at 2705 Central Avenue, on the south side of Hot Springs, about an hour southwest of Little Rock by Interstate 30 and U.S. 70. The bathhouses and thermal springs of the national park lie a short drive north along the same avenue, so a stay often combines racing with a walk along Bathhouse Row.
Arkansas’s other track, Southland in West Memphis, ended greyhound racing in 2022 and is now a casino hotel. The nearest racinos with live racing are Remington Park in Oklahoma City and Louisiana Downs near Shreveport. The Arkansas racinos guide covers the state’s casino law and its four licenses in more detail.