After several years of experiencing opening weekends that drench visitors with downpours, pound them with snowfall, and add to the misery with bone-chilling temperatures, Oaklawn Racing and Gaming in Hot Springs wisely backed up the opening of its live racing season by a couple of weeks this year to Jan. 25.
Those weeks have been added to the end of the live season (the track also offers year-round simulcasts from other tracks such as Santa Anita and Aqueduct) which will continue past the Arkansas Derby--usually the end of live racing--through May 4.
This is welcome news for those of us who enjoy the visceral thrill of watching thoroughbreds thunder toward the finish line from the close-up vantage point of the track railing. Wandering around indoors and viewing the action on video screens isn't the same.
Gambling is the main attraction of Oaklawn, as it has been since the 1920s. Yet those who show up regularly include fans like me, engulfed with a lifelong passion for horses (as a child, I read every Walter Farley book ever written, starting with The Black Stallion--a mystical race horse discovered by a kid named Alex Ramsay at a small Arabian port on the Red Sea--and continuing with around 20 books about the creature, known as the Black, his offspring Satan, Bonfire, Black Minx, and rivals Flame and his equally extended family).
Never having the wherewithal to own a horse, I scraped together the minuscule amount of money for riding lessons at working-class Camp Robin in Strongsville, Ohio (where 10 weeks of basic English-saddle riding instruction for $30 was accompanied by craft classes and swimming lessons for us city kids) and annoyed my parents with requests to take me to Thistledown thoroughbred racetrack near Cleveland. They refused; it was bad enough taking me to riding lessons, where my urban mother, dressed in shirtwaists and heels, had to put up with free-roaming Poncho the burro sticking his fuzzy head into her rolled-down car window while she sat waiting for me to stable my horse of the day and go home.
When I moved to Arkansas as an adult, one of my first ventures outside Little Rock was to Oaklawn. It was instant gratification--visiting the paddock and watching the tall, muscular colts and fillies as they were saddled and walked to the track, enjoying bloody Marys and corned-beef sandwiches (often ample enough to split with a friend, depending who was making them), and keeping an eye on curious examples of humanity, from disreputable railbirds to elegant Jockey Club members in suits and hats.
On my first visit, I learned how to place a wager: Study the program (I like to go with long shots). Approach a teller and announce which race is of interest to you, the amount you want to bet (for me it's always $2), the type of bet (win, place, show; I never dared wander into the exotic world of exactas or quinellas or trifectas), and the horse's program number. Hand over some cash. Get a ticket in return. Go watch the race. Then, maybe, return to the teller and collect some winnings.
Obviously those winnings were minimal with $2 bets, but it's the thrill that counts. And sometimes long shots pay off, at least with enough to buy another corned-beef sandwich.
The best experience I had doing this was when accompanied by my then 7-year-old niece, who lived on a small horse farm in rural Louisiana at the time. Although too young to gamble, she helped me select a horse (based on its good looks more than its record), went with me as I placed a bet, and headed to the rail to see what would happen.
That horse won. Holding hands, we headed inside toward the cashier. I was babbling away about what a good choice she'd made, how smart she was, how much fun it was to pick a winner; all that stuff adults tell kids in a semi-condescending manner to build their confidence.
She listened politely. Then, glancing coolly up at me, she said, "What I want to know is, how are we going to split this?"
That niece, now 22, is a top seller at a sizable auto dealership in Shreveport. No surprise there. I'm still doling out $2 bets at Oaklawn. And I'll be there when it opens Friday.
If you're interested in subjecting yourself to memorable experiences like this, know that Oaklawn's gates open at 11 a.m. every race day, with post times 1:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, and 1 p.m. Saturdays, Super Bowl Sunday and holiday Mondays.
The track's grassy infield will be open Saturdays from March 16 to May 4 (weather permitting). Each week will have a different theme along with vendors, a petting zoo, bouncy houses and a beer garden.
Admission to Oaklawn is free; there is free seating on the first floor and outside. Reserved seating in the grandstand is $2.50 on weekdays and $4.50 on weekends. Six-person boxes are $30 on weekdays and $42 on weekends.
Parking is free on non-race days. It's $2 on race days until 4 p.m., when it's free. I like to park in a pleasant residential neighborhood adjacent to the track. You might want to pay a higher price to park in a close-in private lot. Up to you.
A memorable (and free) experience for those who are more enamored of the horses than the gambling is happening from 7:30-9:30 a.m. each Saturday beginning Feb. 16, when visitors are welcome to watch the thoroughbreds train. This behind-the-scenes look at Oaklawn also includes barn tours at 7:30, 8, 9, and 9:30 a.m. Maybe I'll see you there.
Karen Martin is senior editor of Perspective.
Editorial on 01/20/2019