Wayne Smith was named general manager in March, becoming Oaklawn’s sixth general manager and replacing Eric Jackson, who now serves as senior vice president.
Smith had worked during the past year as assistant general manager of Oaklawn. He previously served in corporate accounting and financing positions with ITT Sheraton, MGM Grand and Caesar’s Entertainment. He also worked in operations for Empire City Racing & Gaming in New York and Penn Gaming in Illinois.
Smith, who is from Rhode Island, graduated from Northeastern University in Boston and has experience in accounting, finance, regulatory compliance, hospitality, racing and gaming.
Oaklawn has expanded its electronic gaming area in recent years. What’s the future for electronic gaming at Oaklawn?
Currently there are no plans for an expansion. As you know, we have expanded our facility twice since 2009. Having just come off a very successful race meet that culminated with our Racing Festival of the South, we continue to focus on ensuring Oaklawn provides Arkansans the greatest racing program in the country, we provide the newest and most exciting electronic games of skill, and we deliver a great entertainment experience to our customers.
How do you balance that aspect of the business, gaming, with the racing aspect?
At Oaklawn, racing is our DNA — everything runs off of that. Gaming is a catalyst that provides racing the opportunity to offer Arkansans the best racing product in the country.
What has been the biggest surprise to you since your arrival at Oaklawn?
The passion and support of Arkansans toward racing. Yes, we get 20,000-plus customers on a Saturday, but how many racetracks have 5,000-plus on Thursday? Consistently, day in and day out, Arkansans of all ages continue to support our racing program.
I am particularly struck by the number of families that come to Oaklawn. Listening to kids scream for their favorite horses, trainers and jockeys as the horses are coming to the finish line is exhilarating. Hot Springs residents and businesses continue to embrace owners, trainers and jockeys like no other city they visit in the country.
What are the challenges to replacing a longtime GM like Eric Jackson, who had been in that post 30 years?
Institutional knowledge spanning 39 years is always a challenge to follow. Eric has guided Oaklawn through the leanest and now best of times, and Eric’s impact in the community is second to none. Eric leaves with me one of the best management teams and employee bases in the business.
Our challenge now is to ensure we continue to provide the greatest racing program, the newest and most popular electronic games of skill and an overall great entertainment experience for our customers.
How did you get involved in this business?
I went to Las Vegas in the mid-1990s as a senior internal auditor at the Desert Inn. Over the next 20-plus years, I held numerous finance positions for MGM, Harrah’s and Empire City. While at Empire City, I got into the operations side of the business, which led me to Penn National and now Oaklawn.
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