Advent Stakes kicks off Oaklawn’s 2025-2026 season

Oaklawn Park the 2025-26 racing season kicks off on Dec. 12 with the $150,000 Advent Stakes, the opening marker of a record 62 stakes worth more than a total of $18.3 million this winter and next spring at the Hot Springs, Ark., track.

Entries were taken for Advent and the remainder of the Opening Day card on December 5, with the feature attracting seven 2-year-olds to race 5 1/2 furlongs, led by Kentucky invaders Ganas And Spun DMC . A total of 109 horses, plus 14 that are also eligible, have been entered for the 10 races on opening day.

Oaklawn is dividing its 2025-2026 racing schedule into two parts: a Holiday Meet from December 12 through January. 4, followed by a break of more than three weeks before the Classic meeting from January 30 to May 2.

Freezing conditions can sometimes impact winter training and racing at Oaklawn. High temperatures are expected to be in the low 50s on opening day.

With rich pockets, thanks in part to the track’s casino, demand from riders to race at Oaklawn is high. Girls race for $100,000.

According to the course, 130 trainers – including the entire top 10 from last season – had signed up for almost 2,500 horses to compete for just 1,470 available stalls. Oaklawn races exclusively on dirt.

“That interest reaffirms Oaklawn’s position as one of the most competitive racing destinations in the country and ensures our fans will witness the best thoroughbreds and connections from across the country,” said Louis Cella, president of Oaklawn Park.

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, who won Oaklawn’s richest race last spring, the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) with Sandman returned the colt to Arkansas. Other Casse stars likely to join him at some point during the meeting include Nitrogen , The face And Ewing .

Sandman, owned by DJ Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables, has recorded a few breezes this winter at the Casse Training Center near Ocala, Florida. He recently arrived in Oaklawn.

In addition to Casse, other prominent trainers who will race at Oaklawn include Steve Asmussen, Brad Cox, Peter Miller, Tom Amoss, Phil D’Amato, David Jacobson, John Ortiz, Saffie Joseph Jr., Chris Hartman, Cipriano Contreras, Greg Compton and Ron Moquett.

Francisco Arrieta, last season’s leading rider, faces an expanded jockey colony, including the addition of Hall of Famer Joel Rosario and Luis Saez, the fourth-leading rider in North America by revenue.

In Advent, Saez rides Spun DMC, second in the Oct. 25 Bowman Mill Stakes Keeneland after a debut victory over Churchill Downs for trainer Randy Morse. Morse is co-owner of Spun DMC, a Spun to run foal, with UPcountry Farm.

Highlighted by the Arkansas Derby, Oaklawn will offer highest-stakes purses for horses looking to advance to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs in the spring.

In 2026, more than $3 million will be up for grabs at Oaklawn for three-year-old fillies looking to qualify for the Kentucky Oaks. The March 27 Fantasy Stakes (G2) is capped at $1 million in 2026, and the March 1 Honeybee Stakes (G3) is now $750,000. These events and the $300,000 Martha Washington Stakes on Jan. 31 are all points races on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.