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Arkansas Derby Results

Results for the 2016 Arkansas Derby

The 2016 Arkansas Derby served as the climax of an exciting spring season at Oaklawn Park. As such, it featured many of the talented three-year-old colts who had taken the Midwestern path to the Kentucky Derby. With 12 contenders vying for that critical 100 derby point prize, there was certainly going to be some heat on this one.

As the Rebel Stakes winner, Cupid was installed as the optimal 2/1 favorite. He was flanked on the betting board by Southwest Stakes winner Suddenbreakingnews at 5/1 and Whitmore, a 9/2 second choice who had finished runner-up in both races.

Cracking out of the gates first was Gettysburg, a known pace setter who rocketed to the front from the outside post and set fractions of :22.81 and :46.33 and 1:10.61 with the top of the order essentially remaining unchanged. The heavily favored Cupid had flanked Gettysburg the entire way and looked to be in prime position to slingshot around the final corner. The colt, however, failed to fire when called upon by rider Martin Garcia.

Instead, it was Creator who came flying through the center of the pack, forcibly bulling his way past Whitmore who had tried to find a crease of his own. Scorching along the outside was Suddenbreakingnews who came surging down the homestretch, but had come from too far out to close the gap in time. Creator was first across the line in a time of 1:50.14 to win the 2016 Arkansas Derby.

As a 10/1 outsider, Creator paid out a whopping $25.20, $8.60 and $5.00 with the victory. Suddenbreakingnews was good for second place and was worth $6.00 and $4.00 at 5/1. Whitmore showed for $3.80 as the 9/2 second choice.

The top three were followed by Dazzling Gem, Gettysburg and Discreetness. The favored Cupid fell all the way to tenth place, posting the most disappointing performance of the day.

Creator is one of the many sons of Tapit, so his pedigree is well recognized. The team of Winstar Farm and celebrity chef Bobby Flay serve as his ownership group. Steven Asmussen is his trainer. He was purchased as a yearling for $440,000 so the investment in him is quite steep but it looks like this longshot certainly has what it takes to compete at the higher levels. The next stop for Creator will be the 2016 Kentucky Derby, where he will steal some attention after being an afterthought heading in to the 2016 Arkansas Derby.