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Oaklawn Park opens its immensely popular live meet Jan 13. in the spa town of Hot Springs, Ark

Oaklawn Park, which opened for business in 1905, is considered one of the region's top tourist destinations and routinely attracts huge on-track crowds.

On the national level, Oaklawn Park has become best-known for its path to the Kentucky Derby. The track's 3-year-old stakes series begins with the $100,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 16 and continues with the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest Stakes on Feb. 20 and the Grade 2 $500,000 Rebel Stakes on March 17. and culminates on April 15 with the $1 million Arkansas Derby which has been one of the most productive prep races for the Kentucky Derby in recent years.

In fact, three of the last eight Arkansas Derby winners have gone on to win Triple Crown. They include 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Smarty Jones; 2005 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes winner Afleet Alex; and 2007 Preakness Stakes winner Curlin, who would go on to be a two-time Horse of the Year.

Horsemen will be running for record purses at Oaklawn Park this season, which is partially the result of money from a new casino as well as the track's popular “Instant Racing” machines, which allow fans to wager on historical races and have been in use for several years.

In addition to Arkansas Derby day, which in 2011 drew more than 62,000 fans on-track, Oaklawn Park also features its annual Racing Festival of the South, which also attracts huge crowds. The festival is conducted towards the end of the meet and usually lasts an enitre week. In 2011, the Racing Festival of the South featured nine stakes races worth $2.7 million spread out over five days.

Full fields and competitive racing figure to be the norm at this year's Oaklawn Park meet. According to Oaklawn officials, the barn area is packed to capacity with around 2,600 horses on the grounds.

Jockeys expected to make Oaklawn Park home are Cliff Berry, Oaklawn's 2011 leading rider; and Terry Thompson, who is a two-time Oaklawn champion jockey. New faces in the jockey's room will include Channing Hill, a New York-based rider who will make his first foray to Hot Springs; and Florent Geroux, a promising jockey from France who just won the riding title at Hawthorne Race Course near Chicago, Ill.

Oaklawn Park's 56-day 2011 meet runs through April 14. With a few exceptions, Oaklawn will run a Thursday thru Sunday schedule with first post being at 1:30 p.m. on weekdays and Sundays and at 1 p.m. on Saturdays and holiday Mondays.