all in Triple Crown

The $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Saturday at Oaklawn Park is the first of four Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve races to be run at the Hot Springs, Ark., track, and the 1 1/16-mile event will start to tell us which talented 3-year-olds are worthy of participating in subsequent races.

As much as Thoroughbreds turn a year older on Jan. 1, some things stay the same. Like the quest for Triple Crown glory. The newly turned 3-year-olds at Oaklawn Park will get their chance to chase Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve qualifying points in Saturday’s Smarty Jones Stakes where 10-5-3-2-1 points will be distributed to the top five finishers.

The 2025 racing calendar kicks off in North America with an active New Year’s Day schedule at several tracks around the country and continues on through the weekend, with two Kentucky Derby points preps – the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park and the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct – slated for Saturday, Jan. 4.

The first Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve qualifier of 2025 is Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, worth 10-5-3-2-1 points to the top five finishers.

America’s Best Racing correspondent Tom Pedulla looks back at 10 stories that made 2024 a year to toast:

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