ROAD TRIP
OFF TO THE RACES!
Oaklawn Park has been a major attraction in Hot Springs since 1904. PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID YERBY
^6 FOR GENERATIONS, OAKLAWN PARK IN HOT SPRINGS, JUST A FEW HOURS FROM MEMPHIS, HAS BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE AMERICAN HORSE-RACING SCENE.
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by david hill
H
ot Springs has always been a gambling town. For the four decades stretching from about 1927 to 1967, the federal government considered Hot Springs to be the largest illegal gambling operation in America. There were no fewer than a dozen casinos in Hot Springs, with dice games, roulette wheels, and slot machines, and gamblers would travel from all over America to get in on the action. That action was anchored by the one type of gambling that was not illegal in Arkansas: betting on horses at the racetrack. Hot Springs has been home to Oaklawn Park since 1904, where people have been betting on the ponies off and on for more than a century.
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PHOTOGR APHS BY CHRIS DAVIS
1/22/18 11:09 AM