In 1904, they formed the Oaklawn Jockey Club and began construction shortly afterward. Charles Dugan, Dan Stuart, and John Condon-owners of the Southern Club-decided to build a racetrack on a site closer to downtown. Following the 1903 repeal of anti-gambling laws, Essex Park was built in 1904. The popularity of Sportsman’s Park, built on the southeastern edge of Hot Springs in the early 1890s, sparked an interest in developing the sport of thoroughbred horse racing in the area. Today, the track is Arkansas’s only thoroughbred horse racing venue and the lone remaining gambling center in a city once known as much for its casinos as for its famous thermal baths. Even before the Civil War, the former pasture where Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort now stands in Hot Springs (Garland County) was home to impromptu races between local farm boys riding their fastest ponies.
