2024 Arkansas Derby

By TVG Staff

Updated: March 26, 2024

The 2024 Arkansas Derby will be run Saturday, March 30, at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is a Grade 1 race worth $1.5 million, the biggest purse of any of the Kentucky Derby preps for three-year-olds. It has recently been one of the most productive Kentucky Derby prep races each year. Three horses have moved on from Arkansas Derby glory to win on the first Saturday in May: Sunny’s Halo (1983), Smarty Jones (2004), and Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (2015).

The Arkansas Derby is open to both male and female Thoroughbreds that are three years old, though all ten entrants in the 2024 field are colts. The field is always quite large as owners scramble to get a share of the big purse, and to get into the Kentucky Derby field.

Oaklawn Park

Looming unexpectedly on a major road through Hot Springs, Arkansas, the grandstand at Oaklawn Park shrouds the beloved track within. The track is the social center of the resort town all winter and spring long, with a festival feeling prominent during the whole meet. Oaklawn Park’s sprawling green infield is a popular destination for race fans, and the glassed-in seating area gives a comfortable, warm space to watch the action.

Oaklawn Park opened in 1905 but has only recently become one of the premier tracks in American racing.

Arkansas Derby Prep Results

The Arkansas Derby finishes off a series of local prep races that begin with the $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, a 10-point prep on New Year’s Day. The $800,000 Southwest Stakes (G3), another 10-point race, followed the last weekend of January. The Oaklawn spur of the Derby trail continued with the $1.25 million Rebel (G2) in late February, a 50-point race that also serves as the final local prep for the Arkansas Derby. Though the number of points available are the same as for races at the same time across the country, these purses make the Oaklawn series the most lucrative Kentucky Derby prep series.

In 2024, three different horses won the three different local preps for the Arkansas Derby. Catching Freedom, who went on to win the Louisiana Derby (G2), won the Smarty Jones. Mystik Dan won the Southwest, and returns for his next start in the Arkansas Derby. He will be joined by Timberlake, winner of the Rebel Stakes.

Arkansas Derby Contenders

These are the top contenders among the ten entrants for the Arkansas Derby:

• Just Steel: Though it would be a surprise for this D. Wayne Lukas trainee to win the Arkansas Derby, he ran well enough in the Smarty Jones and the Southwest to suggest that, if he can get a trip a bit closer to the pace than he did in the Rebel Stakes, he could run on for a piece of the exotics.

  • Liberal Arts: He was well beaten by Mystik Dan in the Southwest, so he has some tables to turn. However, he could move forward in his second start of the year, and his form last year suggests that the switch back to a dry track could help him turn in a good, more tactical effort. The jockey switch to Tyler Gaffalione is a plus, too, since Gaffalione kept him closer to the pace in their one time together.

  • Muth: Bob Baffert is always dangerous when he ships a horse out to Arkansas, especially when it’s a horse like Muth, who has never run a bad race in five starts. With real California speed but also a stalking gear, he can get an excellent trip, and he has the pedigree to stretch out to 1 ⅛ miles with aplomb.

  • Mystik Dan: After an eight-length blowout triumph in the Southwest, he has rested up for this final prep of the Arkansas series. He is tactically versatile enough to sit close to the pace or rally from off of it, and in the Southwest, he impressively rallied from off of a pedestrian pace to inhale the field and draw away. Without a truly torrid pace likely in the Arkansas Derby, this gives him all the right options for a good trip.

  • Timberlake: A Grade 1 winner at age two, he started his sophomore season off on the right foot with a two-length triumph in the Rebel. Flavien Prat takes the reins for the first time, but Prat is a proven big-race rider who won this race for trainer Brad Cox with Angel of Empire last year. With tactical speed and appealing stamina pedigree underneath, he shapes as a contender once again.

  • Time for Truth: Though he steps onto the Kentucky Derby trail for the first time, he has some longshot potential. He stretched out to a route for the first time in an allowance, showing a nice tactical gear and holding on to win. If he got some seasoning and some bottom from that start, he may be able to get the mile and an eighth, and regular rider Rafael Bejarano has already won the Arkansas Derby twice before.

Arkansas Derby Past Winners Past Performances

Oaklawn Park’s Kentucky Derby program went through a big revival in the early 2000s, with Smarty Jones sweeping every Derby prep there en route to a Kentucky victory. Though Smarty Jones is one of only three horses to have won both the Arkansas Derby and the Kentucky Derby, the race has been extremely live in other Triple Crown races as well.

In 2005, Oaklawn-based Afleet Alex won the Arkansas Derby before taking the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. Curlin won the 2007 Arkansas Derby and became a $10 million earner with wins in the Preakness and Dubai World Cup. 2012 winner Bodemeister ran second in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, then went on to sire 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming. And of course, American Pharoah won the Arkansas Derby before taking horse racing’s “Grand Slam,” the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

More recently, 2022 Arkansas Derby winner Cyberknife went on to win the Haskell Stakes, and 2023 Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire finished a late-running third as the betting favorite in the Kentucky Derby.

Post Time for the Arkansas Derby

The 2024 Arkansas Derby happens at 6:47 p.m. Central Daylight Time, carded as the 12th race of 13 on the Oaklawn card.

Arkansas Derby Points

The Arkansas Derby offers 100-50-25-15-10 Road to the Kentucky Derby points to the top five finishers, assuming their trainers are eligible to run horses at Churchill Downs. (All horses but Muth, who is trained by Bob Baffert, are eligible for points.) This guarantees an eligible winner a spot in the Kentucky Derby, puts the second-place finisher in a good place as well, and can even help the next three horses across the wire if they have earned points in other prep races.

Arkansas Derby Undercard

The Arkansas Derby undercard features three other stakes races. The $750,000 Fantasy (G3) is a 100-point Road to the Kentucky Oaks prep, a race that has been increasing in importance in recent years. The card also includes the $500,000 Oaklawn Mile for older horses and the $250,000 Matron for older female dirt sprint runners.

About Oaklawn Park

Oaklawn Park is a premium, one-mile dirt thoroughbred track in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The racing season there runs from January to April when the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby takes place, a top-class race in its own right but also a major stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby.

The race also features an excellent program for older horses. The Apple Blossom (G1) and its prep races perennially draw the top of the distaff division, and the Razorback (G2) often becomes an excellent preview for the older dirt male division. The track also hosts a series of races for older male sprinters, culminating in the Count Fleet (G3) in mid-April.

Even though the track is nestled in the resort town of Hot Springs, it is easy to get to from many large Southern cities, making it a lively winter destination. The track is less than 60 miles from Little Rock, less than 300 miles from Dallas, and less than 400 miles from Austin, Kansas City and Nashville.

Oaklawn Park History

Back in 1905, the Hot Springs Mayor declared a half-day holiday for the opening of Oaklawn Park with over 3,000 people attending the track on its first day of racing. The holiday heralded the beginning of a tradition that has lasted for over a century!

Due to political issues, no racing took place at Oaklawn between 1907 and 1916 but after a sustained period of action the now-famous Arkansas Derby was inaugurated in 1936 with a purse of $5,000 offered to entrants.

By 1952 Oaklawn could boast daily attendances of almost 8,000 people and an average daily handle of well over $400,000, figures which rose by the turn of the decade to 10,000 and $500,000 respectively with the Arkansas Derby purse increasing to $50,000 by 1965.

The track continued to go from strength to strength and during a 50-day meeting in 1970 an average of 11,000 people were attending daily with over $43,000,000 wagered over the course of the meet.

In the mid-70s, Oaklawn gave birth to the Racing Festival of the South with pari-mutuel wagering amounting to a cool $80,000,000 that season, and by the 80s over a quarter of a million people were attending the festival each year. By then the purse for the Arkansas Derby was up at $500,000 and a new single-day attendance record was set with 71,000 showing up to see Rampage win the big race in 1986.

Ten years later, Arkansas Derby day saw a total handle of over $10.5 million, and by the turn of the millennium, Oaklawn was still seeing increases in attendance and wagering meaning the track stands as one of the best in the country at present.

Arkansas Derby FAQ

Q: When is the 2024 Arkansas Derby?

A: The race will be run Saturday, March 30.

Q: Where is the Arkansas Derby?

A: It takes place at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Arkansas Derby?

A: Todd Pletcher has won this race five times: in 2000, 2001, 2013, 2014, and 2018. Though he doesn’t run a horse in 2024, four-time winners Bob Baffert and Steve Asmussen both have entrants, and can tie Pletcher’s record.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Arkansas Derby?

A: At 8-5, Muth is the morning-line favorite for the 2024 Arkansas Derby, off his strong California form. However, Timberlake (9-5) and Mystik Dan (5-2) have run well in previous Oaklawn preps, and it is worth noting if either of them overtake the Baffert money based on that good local form

Q: Who is the best Arkansas Derby jockey?

A: Two riders have won the race three times: the retired Pat Day, and the still-active Mike Smith, who most recently won in 2019 with Omaha Beach. Rafael Bejarano and Ricardo Santana, who have two wins apiece, are both entered to ride in 2024 and can tie the record.

Q: Who won the Arkansas Derby in 2023?

A: Angel of Empire, coming off a long shot win in the Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds, proved he was no fluke when he won the Arkansas Derby for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Flavien Prat.