Hard Hats and Horses Mix as Oaklawn Expansion Continues

Churchill Downs has the Twin Spires and Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort now has the hotel. Well, almost.

Construction on the seven-story, 200-room luxury facility isn't scheduled to be completed until late 2020, but the structure's finished shell already dominates the picturesque setting at the Hot Springs, Ark., venue, which is famously framed by the Ouachita Mountains.

With live racing fast approaching—Oaklawn's scheduled 57-day season runs Jan. 24-May 2 and the track opened for training Dec. 2—the next five or so months will be an intriguing mix of hard hats and horses.

Asked to describe fans' initial reaction to the new-look Oaklawn Park, Jed Doro, the track's vice president of racing, said: "That's a big hotel."

Towering above the first turn, the unnamed hotel is the centerpiece of an ambitious $100 million-plus construction project that began shortly after the 2019 live season ended May 4. 

In addition to the hotel, a 28,000-square-foot gaming expansion south of the grandstand is scheduled to open the week live racing begins in 2020, Oaklawn general manager Wayne Smith said. A 14,000-square-foot multi-purpose events center that will accommodate up to 1,500 people for concerts, meetings, banquets, and weddings will adjoin the hotel. Target date for completion of the events center is also late 2020.

Oaklawn president Louis Cella said the goal for the hotel is to achieve 4-star status. The goal for expanding gaming, now the full-fledged casino type, along with sports wagering, is to further boost a purse structure already the highest among winter signals. 

According to The Jockey Club Information Systems, Oaklawn averaged a meet-record $596,993 in daily purse distribution during the 57-day season in 2019. The daily average was $215,306 in 1999, a year before the introduction of Instant Racing, a popular electronic pari-mutuel historical horse racing product packaged in a Las Vegas-style slot machine. Payouts from HHR terminals, which have fueled explosive purse growth in Kentucky, are based on previously run races. 

The brainchild of then-Oaklawn general manager Eric Jackson, Instant Racing led to local voter approval of enhanced electronic skilled-based games at the track in 2005 and multiple gaming expansions in the last decade. Under terms of Issue 4, the constitutional amendment Arkansas voters passed in November 2018 that authorized a casino at Oaklawn, tax revenue generated by casino wagering includes a hefty 17.5% earmarked for purses.

Doro said average daily purses at Oaklawn in 2020 are projected at more than $600,000. Maiden special weight events are a record $85,000 to open the meet (up from $77,000 in 2019). Oaklawn has carded four $1 million races in 2020—the Arkansas Derby (G1), Rebel Stakes (G2), Oaklawn Handicap (G2), and Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), the latter two bumped to record levels after previously being worth $750,000.

"It's going to keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger," said Hot Springs resident Staton Flurry, who owns Mr. Misunderstood, a multiple graded stakes winner on grass. "This resort, the possibilities are unlimited right now. People are going to be in here all summer bringing money in. We're going to keep getting better horses and better horsemen here. We've already got the best, but adding to the best always makes it better. I think Oaklawn is going to be the showplace of the South."

Eye-popping purses, coupled with uncertainly on the West Coast, has triggered an influx of new faces from Southern California for the 2020 meeting. 

Scheduled to ride regularly at Oaklawn for the first time are Joe Talamo and Martin Garcia. Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer will winter at Oaklawn for the first time. John Sadler, another Southern California stalwart, is scheduled to have a division of horses for the first time in Hot Springs.

Doro said Oaklawn was also able to lure two prominent East Coast trainers for the 2020 meeting, notably Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, who will have a daily presence at Oaklawn for the first time since 1985 after reuniting earlier this year with owner John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs. McGaughey and Anthony teamed to win an Eclipse Award in 1985 with Vanlandingham (champion older male). Jeremiah Englehart is scheduled to have a division at Oaklawn for the first time. 

Trainer Bret Calhoun—with 11 career Oaklawn stakes victories—is returning with a division for the first time since 2016.

"We made an effort, basically everywhere," Doro said of recruiting. "But the California interest is definitely higher than it ever has been, as far I understand. We'll see how it shakes out. Some of these guys have shipped in for stakes. Now, they're actually looking at sending strings. Hopefully, they show up. We'd love to have them."

Coinciding with the expected Southern California invasion was the offseason hiring of Rick Hammerle as Oaklawn's new racing coordinator. Hammerle was formerly vice president for racing and racing secretary at Santa Anita Park. A racing official for more than 30 years, Hammerle has also worked at Del Mar and Golden Gate Fields.

"He was definitely involved in a lot of it," Doro said, referring to Hammerle's recruiting pitch to Southern California trainers. "California horsemen, I wouldn't say they are leaning on him, but they are definitely talking with him and he's kind of been our middleman with most of the California people."

Hammerle is part of a beefed-up racing department for 2020. Former trainer Paul McClelland was hired as stakes coordinator and longtime racing official Matt Crawford is the new claims clerk. Two new positions were created to help monitor the entry process after an ineligible horse, Chris and Dave, won a starter-allowance race last February. Tricia Warrens, a senior in the University of Louisville's Equine Industry Program, will fill one of the positions as an intern. 

Shifting to safety, Oaklawn has expanded its integrity program launched in 2018. 

Retired trainer Terry Dunlavy is the new racing integrity officer, replacing Hal Wiggins, who will be an association steward at the 2020 Oaklawn meeting. Former Oaklawn paddock judge Tyra Barnett and Zack Taylor, scheduled to graduate this month from the University of Arizona's Racetrack Industry Program, will serve as newly created racing integrity coordinators.

Oaklawn's integrity program team acts as a liaison between track management, stewards and the Arkansas Racing Commission. Daily responsibilities include observing all pre-race exams, out-of-competition testing and TCO2 testing, monitoring the barn area every morning and afternoon, and tracking all horses shipping in and out of the barn area.

Doro said Oaklawn has hired four outriders for the 2020 meeting, with three working every morning and afternoon—one more than past years.

"It just helps to have an extra set of eyes out there," Doro said.

Oaklawn opened for training Monday morning, meaning hotel construction has shifted inside so noise won't disrupt racing and training. Outside work will resume after live racing ends.

To accommodate the expansion and needed parking, Oaklawn removed five barns south of the track after the 2019 live season ended, and another was halved. The equine population has continued to be shifted east of the track, with six new barns—40 stalls each—being built in the off-season. Oaklawn can house approximately 1,500 horses. Also built during the off-season were a new track kitchen, stable gate entrance, and main entrance to the south parking lot.

Flurry jokingly indicated a road map, not Daily Racing Form, may be required reading for fans, particularly early in the meet.

"The first thing I (thought) when I pulled up in the parking lot was how am I going to get to the frontside to watch the workers?" said Flurry, who ironically owns several parking lots adjacent to Oaklawn that fans use during the live season. "But it's going to be great for the city, great for across the street because it doesn't look like there's too much parking here right now. It's going to be a fun year, all-around, I think. Business-wise, everybody's kind of got that Oaklawn chatter right now."