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A racino in Claremore, OK
Will Rogers Downs is a smaller, quieter operation than the big tribal resorts around Tulsa. The casino floor has 250 games rather than thousands, the track runs one live meet at a time, and a campground on the grounds lets visitors stay for several race days. That mix of racing, a modest casino and campground life sets it apart.
The setting is Rogers County, just northeast of the town of Justice and three miles east of Claremore on Highway 20. Drivers from Tulsa follow the Will Rogers Turnpike or Highway 66 to Claremore and continue east. The Cherokee Nation also runs off-track betting rooms at its Sallisaw and West Siloam Springs casinos for race fans farther south and east.
The 2026 racing schedule at Will Rogers Downs
The year opens with thoroughbreds. The 2026 thoroughbred meet started on January 12 and ran into the spring. Meanwhile the state’s quarter horse circuit began at Remington Park in Oklahoma City in March and moved to Fair Meadows in Tulsa for June and July. It closes at Will Rogers Downs each autumn.
| 2026 fall meet | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dates | September 14 to November 17 |
| Length | 28 race days |
| Sunday racing | From September 27 |
| Total purses | More than $5 million |
| Open allowance purse | $24,500 |
The fall racing schedule added Sunday cards from late September. Stakes purses rose from $24,000 to $30,000 for 2026, and average daily purses reached about $150,000. The Mystery Futurity, with nine trials, had its final on September 28. The horse racing schedule page lists other tracks running the same weeks.
Quarter horses, Paints and Appaloosas
Most fall races are quarter horse sprints on the straight, short dashes where a race can be over in under 25 seconds. Paints and Appaloosas run in mixed races on the same cards. In 2025 the meet staged 276 races, 231 of them for quarter horses, and the average quarter horse field held 8.45 runners.
Purse money for these meets comes partly from tribal gaming revenue. According to the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association, compact revenue tied to Fair Meadows supports purses at both Fair Meadows and Will Rogers Downs. For a new bettor, the pari-mutuel betting guide explains how win, place and exacta pools work before the first race goes off.
The Will Rogers Downs casino
The casino is open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Its 250 electronic games run from 1-cent to $10 denominations, with hold-and-spin and cash-collect features on the newer titles. Weekly promotions run through the Cherokee Casino rewards card, including kiosk games on Wednesdays.
Like Remington Park, the floor is limited to electronic games, and no live tables are listed. Disputes over a prize go to the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, which regulates racetrack gaming in the state. Anyone who plans to play can set a time or budget limit before arriving; staff can share problem gambling resources on request.
Grandstand, dining and the KOA campground
The grandstand covers 60,000 square feet, part covered and part open-air, with 2,700 seats along the one-mile oval. Turf Club tables are sold by the day or for a whole season. Collective Kitchen(s) serves all-American comfort food for lunch and dinner, and the Dog Iron Saloon has drinks, dancing and live local bands on Friday and Saturday nights.
With no hotel, the KOA campground matters. It sits on the Will Rogers Downs grounds and rents RV and camper spots, so horsemen and racing fans can walk to the grandstand. Visitors who prefer a room book in Claremore or Tulsa, and the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore makes a natural stop before an afternoon card.
From tornado damage to a full calendar
On May 25, 2024, an EF3 tornado that had already struck Claremore hit the casino, causing heavy damage and destroying several RVs on the grounds. The property reopened in August 2024. The 2025 quarter horse meet that followed handled more than $4.5 million in wagers, up 8% from the year before, with on-track betting leading the growth.
Racetrack gaming came to Oklahoma after voters approved State Question 712 in 2004. By 2010, gaming at Will Rogers Downs brought in nearly four times what its track wagering did. For how the state’s two remaining racinos compare, see the Oklahoma racinos page; for the format itself, the guide to what a racino is covers the basics.