HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park moves into a new era Friday with the start of its 57-date meet. The stakes schedule is worth a record $11 million. A fresh round of racing policies bring Lasix-free preps for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. And an upscale hotel is set to open in March as part of a more than $100 million expansion project. The meet, which runs through May 1, begins in the midst of a pandemic that will limit the number of spectators that can attend one of the most popular tracks in North America. The season will begin with attendance limited to box-seat holders, members of Oaklawn’s jockey club, and those who secure reservations for the track’s restaurants in a plan approved by the Arkansas Department of Health. “Everything’s going to be open, it’s just going to be sparse,” said Lou Cella, president of Oaklawn. “It’s not going to be the usual shoulder to shoulder, which we’re accustomed to.” Oaklawn’s stakes schedule of 33 races is topped by four $1 million races – the Arkansas Derby, Apple Blossom, Oaklawn Handicap, and Rebel. The minimum stakes purse will be $150,000, with the stakes program as a whole driving the quality in the stable area at Oaklawn. :: Want to get your Past Performances for free? Click to learn more. “We’re upping our game,” said Pat Pope, racing secretary at Oaklawn. “You’re going to see more horses that won stakes races on the grounds. I think you’ll see Breeders’ Cup horses right from the get-go.” The stakes schedule reaches its peak during the Racing Festival of the South, which in a change will be run over three consecutive Saturdays. The series of major stakes starts April 3 with the Grade 3, $600,000 Fantasy, a points race for the Kentucky Oaks that last year was won by eventual Preakness heroine Swiss Skydiver. The Grade 1 Arkansas Derby will be held April 10, supported by the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap. The festival closes April 17 with the Grade 1 Apple Blossom and Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap. Oaklawn’s Kentucky Derby points races are the $150,000 Smarty Jones on Friday; the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest on Feb. 15; the Grade 2 Rebel on March 13; and the Arkansas Derby. “We have seven points races toward the Oaks and the Derby and they’ll go Lasix-free to make sure whoever goes in those races will acquire points to go to the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby,” said Pope. The new policy is in place in several states this year in order to be in compliance with points distribution requirements set by Churchill Downs, site of the Kentucky Derby and Oaks. Oaklawn has several other new racing policies. Cella said they include the mandated use of safety whips by jockeys competing at the meet. Other changes address medications like the diuretic Lasix and the bronchodilator Clenbuterol. “Lasix, we’re reducing it by 50 percent,” Cella said. “Clenbuterol, we’ve banned it.” Cella said Oaklawn also has expanded its integrity program, which will be overseen by Beverly Fowler. The team keeps tabs on the backstretch and area training centers. Oaklawn also is calling for all horses to be on the grounds 72 hours in advance of a given race. “If they’re not stabled on the grounds, they have to be here three days before running,” Pope said. “So, to accommodate people, we have gone to seven-day [out] entries except Wednesday for Sunday, which is over four days out.” Cella said the new policies came out of discussions with both the Arkansas Racing Commission and Arkansas Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. “We have a common goal – what is best for racing,” he said. “We all agree with that, and because of that, we’re able to say, What is best for Oaklawn?” Pope said Oaklawn received more than 2,200 stall applications for the track’s 1,500 stalls. The stable area includes runners from New York, California, Florida, and across the Midwest. They will be chasing, thanks in part to the continued success of an ontrack casino, an average of $600,000 a day in purses. Pope said maiden special weight races will be worth $82,000 and no-conditions allowances, $90,000. The bottom claiming price will be $6,250, and the minimum purse at the meet is $22,000. “I’m proud of the fact that there’s over 100-something trainers that are going to hang their shingle out here and compete,” said Pope. The 200-room hotel that overlooks the first turn of the track was scheduled to open in December but now has a rollout date of late March. “Thanks to COVID, we’re delayed,” Cella said. “The structure is complete. The elevators work. The floors are in. But we’re waiting for interiors to arrive from various places and hopefully they’ll get here for the last month of racing.” By then, Oaklawn hopes to be able to welcome more onsite patrons at the 117-year-old track. “Our hope is to complete the season with as many fans as the good Lord permits,” Cella said. “We have a great racing product. We’re very, very fortunate. You can watch it on television, but there’s nothing more fun than to watch it in person at Oaklawn. It’s a beautiful track. It’s a beautiful facility. When you tie in the best racing in the spring, there’s nothing that can beat it.”