Oaklawn Park

Maggie Wolfendale & Sara Elbadwi look back at the results of the Gravesend Stakes at Aqueduct & the Poinsettia Stakes from Oaklawn.

Graded stakes winner Skelly, racing for the first time in seven months, returned successfully Dec. 30 at Oaklawn Park, leading throughout in a $143,000 allowance optional claiming race.

Oaklawn Park's top sprinter from its prior meet is ready to return. Red Lane Thoroughbreds' multiple stakes winner Skelly is entered in the eighth race Dec. 30 at the Arkansas track, a six-furlong $143,000 allowance.

The first stakes race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby for newly-turned 3-year-olds takes place Jan. 1 when Oaklawn Park stages the $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes.

Sara Elbadwi & Paul Verderosa look ahead to the Gravesend Stakes at Aqueduct & the Poinsettia Stakes from Oaklawn.

Longtime Oaklawn executive Eric Jackson will be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame next year, becoming the eighth Oaklawn-related figure to receive the honor.

An Arkansan leads the Oaklawn owner's standings through the first five days of the 2023-24 meeting, but it is not record-setting John Ed Anthony or 2022-23 champions Heath and Sheena Campbell. It is Staton Flurry of Hot Springs, Ark.

Caddo River won 6 of 23 career starts, including the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes in 2021 at Oaklawn, and earned $838,116.

Seizing upon an opening on the inside entering the second of two turns, War Campaign took command and captured the $200,000 Tinsel Stakes Dec. 16 at Oaklawn Park.

Another challenger to watch is Strong Quality. By Quality Road, the 4-year-old colt runs well when not in grade 1 company. He is 4-4-2 from 12 non-grade 1 starts, with two fourths being his worst finishes.