Oaklawn Park

Looking every bit the 3-2 morning-line favorite for the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, Renegade (Into Mischief) strode out of paddock schooling with top marks shortly before noon on Thursday. The colt had that, 'Take the test, don't let the test take you' sort of look. Renegade's trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Hot Springs track's signature race five times, but it hasn't been since 2018 when Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon) took the prize. Of course, that hero was campaigned by Robert and Lawana Low, who happen...

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack provides analysis for Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park and GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park. Both offer 100-50-25-15-10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Last Saturday's Results - Black Hornet (Essential Quality) looked to be making a winning move on the far turn, but cornered poorly and packed it in from there to finish eighth at 16-1 in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks. Blacksmith (Liam's Map) failed to get involved early and was a no-show sixth at 6-1 in...

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...

Keeneland's Spring Meet will feature expanded national television coverage of major races during the first two Saturdays of the season, and debut a range of digital tools and wagering enhancements designed to provide horseplayers with information and betting opportunities, the track said via a press release on Thursday. Fans can watch the entire meet through Keeneland's livestream, available on Keeneland.com, the Keeneland YouTube channel and the Keeneland Race Day app. Throughout the Spring Meet, racing fans can turn to FanDuel TV for daily coverage beginning at noon ET. In addition,...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--Bearing witness to Thoropedo Anna (Fast Anna) putting on a show down the stretch at Oaklawn Park in the 2024 edition of the GII Fantasy Stakes before she became a champion was a special moment in her career. The track will honor the now-retired mare on Friday with a bobblehead giveaway, which in no uncertain terms equals immortality. On Friday in Hot Springs, the latest batch of 3-year-old fillies will take to the track in the Fantasy and chase a cut of the $1 million purse, plus a...

Champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) returned to the work tab Sunday morning at Oaklawn with a bullet half-mile work over a fast track for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Nitrogen, under two-time Oaklawn riding champion Cristian Torres, was clocked in :46.40, fastest of 56 published works at the distance. Nitrogen was breezing for the first time since finishing third in Mar. 7 GII Azeri Stakes. Last year's champion 3-year-old filly remains on target for the Apr. 11 Apple Blossom Handicap. "Nitrogen looked like the old Nitrogen," said assistant trainer...

Sam F. Davis Stakes winner Renegade (Into Mischief) was installed as the 3-2 morning-line favorite for the $1.5 million GI Arkansas Derby March 28 at Oaklawn Park. Post positions for the 1 1/8-mile race were drawn Saturday afternoon, with Renegade leading nine horses entered in the track's fourth and final Kentucky Derby qualifying race. 5-2 shot Silent Tactic (Tacitus) will be the only horse to compete in all four qualifying races at Oaklawn after finishing second in the Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 3, winning the $1-million GIII Southwest Stakes Feb....

Steve Landers knows a salesman when he sees one. And here comes a burly young man, into the paddock at Oaklawn, holding out a hand. "Mr. Landers," he said. "I'm Brad Cox." This was a good decade ago, when Cox was still trying to get established. So he made his pitch. If Landers could keep him in mind for a horse or two, he sure would appreciate it. "Well, I like to see somebody swim out to their ship, instead of waiting on it to come in," Landers says now....

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--The mercurial Louis I. Kahn said that, "The sun never knew how great it was until it hit the side of a building." For something a touch more vernacular, the master architect was still no less pithy when he reminded us that, "Architecture is the thoughtful making of spaces." Oaklawn Park, ever the innovator in the world of horse racing, has faithfully scooped up Kahn's architectural spirit. They have put thought into a blueprint that can change their backside for the future and it starts in the form...

4th-GP, $84k, Msw, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 2:19 p.m. ET. Star Actress (Justify), a full-sister to champion 2-year-old filly and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Just F Y I, stretches to two turns for her second career start for Bill Mott. The George Krikorian homebred rallied from seventh to finish a close second on debut going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Feb. 8. She earned a 73 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort. The aforementioned Just F Y I brought $4.5 million from Katsumi Yoshida at the 2025 Fasig-Tipton November...

Mark Casse has mapped out next-race plans for a trio of his 3-year-old fillies. Counting Stars (Honor A. P.) and Search Party (Gun Runner), second and fourth in the GIII Honeybee S. Mar. 1, are headed to the $1-million GII Fantasy S. Mar. 27 at Oaklawn. Unbeaten Dixie Belle S. winner French Friction (City of Light), meanwhile, will stretch to two turns for the first time in the $750,000 GI Ashland S. Apr. 3 at Keeneland. Both races are 1 1/16 miles. "That was definitely one of the bright spots...

Champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) still has her sights set on her major spring objective, the GI Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park, despite a hiccup last weekend in Hot Springs, the track said via a press release on Wednesday. Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said Nitrogen will make her next start in the Apr. 11 Apple Blossom following a third-place finish in Saturday's GII Azeri Stakes. Tabbed as the 3-10 favorite under regular rider Jose Ortiz, the filly was beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Majestic Oops (Majestic Harbor)...