For the 2024 season, the purse was raised to $1.5 million.

The purse underwent several more increases throughout the years and was raised to $1 million in 2004, the year the track celebrated its centennial, and later increased to $1.25 million. The purse was increased to $50,000 in 1965, and it became Oaklawn’s first $100,000 race in 1972. The winner that year was Holl Image, who went on to finish sixth in the Kentucky Derby.

The Arkansas Derby was first held in 1936 and carried a $5,000 purse. Over time, it has developed into one of the nation’s leading preparatory races for the Triple Crown, which comprises the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. It is traditionally held each year at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs (Garland County) on the second Saturday of April. The one-and-one-eighth-mile race is restricted to horses that are three years old. The purse is the prize money that is divided among the horses competing in the race, based upon their finish, with the winner receiving sixty percent. The Arkansas Derby is the most lucrative thoroughbred horse race in Arkansas, currently offering a “purse” of $1 million.

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