Louis Cella

The 2025-2026 Oaklawn Park racing season concluded Saturday with across-the-board gains, the track announced Tuesday. Across 62 race days, Oaklawn conducted 627 races, an increase from 621 races last season, while distributing $54,477,160 in purses with a daily average purse of $878,663. With an average of just over 10 races per day, Oaklawn put an average of 8.81 starters in the gate per race. The average daily handle rose to $6,938,183, an increase over last year's $6,737,332, generating a total meet handle of $430,167,353--surpassing last season's total of $417,714,571. On-track...

In the second installment of the TDN Business Hour, the conversation focused in on one of the most vital components of the racing economy in America today: the reliance on casino-funded purse subsidies. Host Najja Thompson, Executive Director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, explores these questions with Louis Cella, Damon Thayer and Bill Nader.

In the second installment of the TDN Business Hour, the conversation focused on one of the most vital components of the racing economy in America today: reliance on casino-funded purse subsidies. While states like Kentucky and Arkansas have seen a revitalization fueled by gaming revenue, other jurisdictions face an uphill battle. From the ongoing quest for subsidies in California to the defensive front against decoupling in Florida, the industry is at a crossroads. What are the long-term benefits of these subsidies? At what point does the sport become too reliant...

Oaklawn President Louis A. Cella and the late Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas will be honored together with inclusion to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Apr. 10. Lukas was among the first trainers to operate a national racing stable at Oaklawn Park and the Hot Springs track became a regular winter home for his horses preparing for the Triple Crown trail. Oaklawn has been guided by the Cella family for more than a century, with Louis A. Cella representing the fourth generation of leadership. Since becoming president...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--If you are looking for the best seat in the house for the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park this weekend, then chances are brothers Luke and Cole Jones piloting their drones have their gimbals locked on shooting the perfect A-roll. As long as the weather holds off, the Jones boys go vertical for every race during Oaklawn's meet, which is all part of the larger show in Hot Springs. Tracks have deployed this aerial technology for a couple of years now, but it's primarily been restricted to...

Oaklawn Park will support a new purse incentive designed to reward horsemen who support the track for the remainder of the 2025-2026 racing season, Oaklawn announced Saturday. Beginning with Condition Book 4 released March 19, 2026, the incentive will apply to the 25 remaining scheduled race days of the meet and, per the release, "will reward races that attract larger fields." Under the new structure, Allowance and Maiden Special Weight races will receive an additional $5,000 in purse money for each official starter above nine betting interests, except for stake...

The $1.25 million GI Apple Blossom Handicap has joined the roster of prestigious North American races for the 2026 Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, Breeders' Cup Limited and Oaklawn Park said in a joint release on Thursday. The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of stakes races, the winners of which receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race at the 2026 Breeders' Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Offering an automatic...

Oaklawn Park welcomed a total attendance of 104,250, hosted average Saturday crowds of more than 13,000, featured 132 races--including 15 stakes races over 13 race days--and had an average field size of 9.78 horses per race during it's new Holiday Meet, the Hot Springs track said in a Tuesday press release. "The Holiday Meet delivered exactly what we strive for at Oaklawn--great racing, strong fan engagement, and meaningful momentum," said Louis A. Cella, President of Oaklawn. "The competitiveness of our fields and the enthusiasm from both on-track and off-track players...

Two of the most prominent figures in Oaklawn history, executive Louis Cella and the late trainer D. Wayne Lukas, will be part of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame's 2026 class, the ASHOF's 68th overall. "How about that?" Cella said. "That was a little shot out of the dark that surprised me, but I was very honored. A little bit over my skis. But when you're in a category with D. Wayne Lukas, you have to check your pulse and see what the hell is going on." Cella has been...

Oaklawn Hot Springs will feature a trio of significant updates to its wagering menu for the upcoming 2025-2026 live racing season, highlighted by two new low-takeout bets and the return of a fan-favorite multi-race wager, the track announced Tuesday. Starting on Opening Day, Oaklawn will launch two new wagers featuring a reduced 15% takeout, one of the lowest rates in North America, to offer greater value to customers. Each race day will conclude with a new "Get Out Pick 3", featuring a $3 base wager covering the final three races...

Oaklawn Park will host a pair of major live horseplayer contests to be held during Southwest Stakes Weekend in 2026, the track announced Friday. The new events, the Southwest Showdown on Saturday, Jan. 31, and the Oaklawn Horseplayer Championship on Sunday, Feb. 1, will bring together top horseplayers from across the country to Oaklawn for a high-stakes competition offering Last Chance/First Chance seats to the 2026 or 2027 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC), 2026 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC), and cash prizes. "We are excited to introduce a marquee horseplayer contest...

Zack Gillham has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Racing and Wagering at Oaklawn Park, officials at the Hot Springs, Arkansas, racetrack said in a release on Thursday. Jason Milligan will also transition from his current role to assume the position of the Director of Racing. Gillham, who has been with Oaklawn for over eight years, will oversee all aspects of racing and sports wagering operations at the track. He was most recently employed as the Executive Director of Wagering, where he played a key role in...