“The Force was with us today,” grinned Quietside’s trainer, John A. Ortiz, after winning the Fantasy Stakes in March this year. While the trainer felt it was the mystical universal energy from Star Wars that helped the filly subdue Simply Joking in a spectacular horse racing dog fight, we’d wager the $750,000 prize money did act as an incentive. And that monetary incentive is now set to get even more lucrative come 2026.
The Grade II Fantasy Stakes is often considered the stepping stone for 3-year-old fillies looking to make a name for themselves at Oaklawn Park, and then at the Kentucky Oaks and ultimately at the Kentucky Derby. Naturally, the prize pool for such a high-stakes horse racing event should go hand-in-hand. With that thought in mind, the authorities have decided to make the next Fantasy Stakes even bigger than ever before.
When the G2 horse racing spectacle returns to Oaklawn Park next year, it will boast the biggest purse in its history. As per a report by Thoroughbred Daily News from July 22, the 2026 Fantasy Stakes will offer $1 million to the winner. “The increase to our Fantasy Stakes by itself makes a very strong statement. This will be the first time in the history of North American racing that 3-year-old fillies will have an opportunity to run for a seven-figure purse prior to the Kentucky Oaks,” Louis A. Cella, Oaklawn President, said.
The move comes in cohesion with Oaklawns’s aim at making the 2025-26 horse racing season a historic one. For the first time ever, the iconic Hot Springs, Arizona, racecourse will feature 62 stakes races throughout the entire season. To mark the occasion, the combined prize pool for the 2025-26 horse racing season at Oaklawn has been announced to be exceeding $18.3 million; “ more than double the total from the 2019 season,” as per the TDN article from Tuesday.
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