calsfoundation@cals.org
February 15, 1905
Oaklawn Park Racetrack opened in Hot Springs (Garland County). Even before the Civil War, the former pasture where Oaklawn Park Racetrack now stands was home to impromptu races between local farm boys riding their fastest ponies. Today, the track is Arkansas’s only thoroughbred horse racing venue and the lone remaining gambling center in a city once known as much for its casinos as for its famous thermal baths.