9 months after tornado, Will Rogers opens spring season

Nine months after it was hit by a tornado, Will Rogers Downs reopens Monday to begin its 2025 Thoroughbred racing season. The first post is at 2:15 p.m. EST with 50 horses entered in eight races.

The 28-day Thoroughbred meet runs until mid-May. Monday and Tuesday cards will be run every week. Wednesday races will be added March 19-April 9 and closing day May 14. The track also will host live racing May 3 alongside its simulcast of the Kentucky Derby card from Churchill Downs.

Click here for Will Rogers Downs entries and results.

Ten days after the Thoroughbred season ended last year, the track in Claremore, Okla., was damaged May 25 in a storm that hit northeastern Oklahoma, killed two people and injured 23 others. Rebuilding began right away, and the annual quarter-horse, paint and Appaloosa meet went ahead as scheduled in the fall. Barn repairs were completed this winter.

Seven stakes are scheduled during the spring meet. The $50,000 Wilma Mankiller on April 14 for fillies and mares and the $50,000 Highland Ice on April 15 for 3-year-olds and up will be run at six furlongs. The $55,000 More Than Even, a one-mile race for Oklahoma-bred fillies and mares, is scheduled for May 6.

Six-furlong sprints restricted to Oklahoma-bred horses include the $50,000 Blue Ribbon on March 17 for 3-year-old fillies, the $50,000 Welder on March 18 for 3-year-olds, the $55,000 Miranda Diane on March 24 for fillies and mares and the $55,000 Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma Classic Sprint on March 25 for 3-year-olds and up.