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| Grade II race | |
|---|---|
| Arkansas Derby | |
| Location | Oaklawn Park Race Track Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA |
| Inaugurated | 1936 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred |
| Website | Oaklawn Jockey Club, Inc. |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1⅛ miles (9 furlongs) |
| Track | Dirt, Right-handed |
| Qualification | Three-year-olds |
| Weight | Colt/Gelding: 126 lbs (57.2 kg) Filly: 121 lbs. (54.9 kg) |
| Purse | US$1,000,000 |
The Arkansas Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race held in April at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The Arkansas Derby is open to three-year-olds willing to race one and one-eighth miles (9 furlongs) on the dirt. A Grade II stakes race, it offers a purse of $1,000,000.
The inaugural Arkansas Derby in 1936 offered a total purse of $5,000. The first winner was Holl Image, owned and trained by Jack Carter.
Past winners have gone on to win American Classic Races such as 1980 winner Temperence Hill and 1998's Victory Gallop who both went on to capture the Belmont Stakes, plus Sunny's Halo won the 1983 Kentucky Derby as did Smarty Jones in 2004, and Elocutionist (1976), Tank's Prospect (1985), and Pine Bluff (1992) all won the Preakness Stakes. The 1994 winner, Concern, won that year's Breeders' Cup Classic.
In 2004, Oaklawn Park offered a $5 million bonus to any horse that could sweep the Oaklawn three-year-old graded stakes schedule: Rebel Stakes and the Arkansas Derby, and then take the Kentucky Derby. This helped increased particiaption from the top three-year-olds in the country to the point where the winners of four of the last nine Triple Crown races won the Arkansas Derby. Smarty Jones captured this feat the same year it was introduced.
The race was run in two divisions in 1960.
Records
Speed record:
- 1:46.80 - Althea (1984)
Most wins by a jockey:
- 3 - Pat Day (1986, 1987, 1997)
Most wins by a trainer:
- Eleven trainers have won this race twice.
Most wins by an owner:
- 3 - Loblolly Stable (1980, 1987, 1992)
Winners of the Arkansas Derby
+ Valhol finished first in 1999 but was relegated to last place following a Stewards' Inquiry.
