How racetrack gaming works in Oklahoma
Oklahoma voters approved pari-mutuel betting on horse races in 1982, and Blue Ribbon Downs ran its first pari-mutuel race in August 1984. Gaming came to the tracks two decades later. State Question 712, approved in November 2004, created the State-Tribal Gaming Act, which set terms for tribal compacts and allowed electronic games at licensed horse racetracks.
The law tied the two industries together on purpose. Tribal casinos gained a compact framework, and the racetracks gained machines whose revenue would support purses and breeding. Lawmakers first capped Remington Park at 650 machines, later raising the limit to 750, the number on its floor today. The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission oversees both the racing and the racetrack gaming.
The Oklahoma racinos at a glance
| Venue | City | Racing | Gaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remington Park | Oklahoma City | Quarter horse (spring), thoroughbred (fall) | 750 electronic gaming machines |
| Will Rogers Downs | Claremore | Thoroughbred (winter–spring), quarter horse (fall) | 250 electronic games |
Both Oklahoma racinos are much smaller than the tribal resort casinos that dominate the state’s gaming map. A racino here is a racetrack first, with a machine floor attached, which shapes the visit: racing nights, simulcast screens and modest dining rather than hotel towers. The guide to what a racino is explains the format across the country.
Remington Park, Oklahoma City
Remington Park opened on September 1, 1988, and added its casino in 2005. The Chickasaw Nation’s Global Gaming RP bought it at auction in 2009 for $89.25 million and took over on January 1, 2010. It sits in the Adventure District at Interstate 35 and Interstate 44, near the zoo and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
The track is a one-mile dirt oval with a seven-furlong turf course. Its highlights are the Grade 1 Heritage Place Futurity for quarter horses in May and the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby in late September, which Silent Tactic won in 2026. The casino never closes, admission and parking are free, and the minimum age is 18.
Will Rogers Downs, Claremore
Will Rogers Downs is owned by the Cherokee Nation and run by Cherokee Nation Entertainment. The one-mile track lies three miles east of Claremore on Highway 20, and its covered and open-air grandstand seats 2,700. The casino has 250 electronic games, open until 2 a.m. on weeknights and 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
There is no hotel, but a KOA campground on the grounds rents RV and camper sites. An EF3 tornado badly damaged the casino on May 25, 2024; the property reopened that August. Thoroughbreds race early in the year, and the fall quarter horse meet, 28 days in 2026, carries more than $5 million in purses.
The 2026 horse racing schedule
Oklahoma’s live racing moves around the state through the year, and the quarter horse circuit sets the rhythm. The Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association counts more than $20 million in purses across the three tracks in 2026, with 65% of that money going to overnight races rather than stakes. The calendar below shows the main meets.
| Track | 2026 meet | Breed |
|---|---|---|
| Will Rogers Downs | From January 12 into spring | Thoroughbred |
| Remington Park | March 5 to May 30 (50 days) | Quarter horse, Paint, Appaloosa |
| Fair Meadows, Tulsa | June 3 to July 18 (27 days) | Quarter horse, Paint, Appaloosa |
| Remington Park | August 21 to December 19 | Thoroughbred |
| Will Rogers Downs | September 14 to November 17 (28 days) | Quarter horse, Paint, Appaloosa |
For a visitor, the horse racing schedule means one live meet at a time in most months. Late summer brings brief overlap, when Remington Park’s thoroughbreds start before Will Rogers Downs opens its fall cards. The national horse racing schedule adds neighboring states, which helps when planning a trip that crosses into Arkansas or New Mexico.
Where the money goes
Racetrack gaming revenue in Oklahoma is split between the licensee, horsemen’s purses, breeding programs and the state, including a share for education. The State Auditor and Inspector publishes monthly audit reports of gaming operations for the racing commission, listing purse money by breed. Those reports appear with a lag of several months.
The model has kept live racing alive at tracks that might otherwise struggle. A 2011 report found that gaming revenue at the racetracks rose 35% from 2006 to 2010, and that at Will Rogers Downs gaming brought in nearly four times what track wagering did. Fair Meadows, with no machines, receives purse support from tribal compact revenue instead.
Racinos versus tribal casinos
Oklahoma has a large number of tribal casinos, and to many visitors they look similar to the racinos. The difference is legal: racinos operate under the racetrack provisions of the 2004 act and answer to the horse racing commission, while tribal casinos operate on tribal land under compacts with the state.
That is why table games, hotels and big entertainment venues are mostly found at tribal resorts, while Oklahoma racinos stay focused on racing and machines. For visitors, the practical result is simple: a racino visit is built around the race card, and a tribal resort visit around the casino and the hotel.
Tracks that left the racino list
Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, near the Arkansas line, was the third track to add gaming in 2005. It had opened in 1963 as a quarter horse track recognized by the American Quarter Horse Association. Its final races ran on November 28, 2009, and the grandstand was demolished in 2022.
Fair Meadows in Tulsa never added gaming and is not among the Oklahoma racinos. It still runs a summer meet of quarter horses, Paints and Appaloosas, and its purses are supported by tribal compact revenue that also feeds Will Rogers Downs. For the national story of how track gaming spread, see the history of racinos.
Oklahoma racinos and their neighbors
The Oklahoma racinos sit within a day’s drive of several other racing states. To the east, Arkansas’s Oaklawn in Hot Springs runs a winter thoroughbred meet with a full casino. To the west, New Mexico has five racetrack casinos, and Louisiana’s tracks lie south across Texas, which has no racinos of its own.
The neighbors follow different rules. Arkansas casinos require players to be 21 and offer live table games and sports wagering, while New Mexico’s racinos run slot machines with live racing on fixed seasons. The Arkansas racinos guide and the racinos near me map show distances and current seasons for each track.