The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced on Thursday
that Oaklawn Park and the Cella family have been awarded the Eclipse Award of
Merit. The award is given annually in recognition of lifetime achievements in
Thoroughbred racing.
Oaklawn Park celebrated its Centennial season last year and offered a $5
million bonus to any horse that captured the Rebel S. and $1 million Arkansas
Derby (G2) at the track before going on to take the Kentucky Derby (G1). Smarty
Jones was awarded the Centennial Bonus when sweeping the trio of races, earning the single largest payday in Thoroughbred racing history.
The Cella family has owned and operated Oaklawn since its opening in 1905.
The family’s involvement goes back more than a century and represented many
firsts, including America’s first glass-enclosed grandstand when Oaklawn Park
was constructed and the first running of the Arkansas Derby in 1936. Charles J.
Cella, the current track president and chairman of the board, pioneered
interstate simulcast wagering and, in 1990, Oaklawn became the first North
American track to import full-card races across state lines for simulcasting
purposes.