Tags: Horse Race, Race.
The Essex Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the first week of February at Oaklawn Park Race Track in Hot Springs Arkansas. Open to horses age four and older it is contested on dirt over a distance of 1 1/16 miles (8.5 furlongs).Inaugurated in 1948 as the Southland Handicap its name was changed to the Essex beginning with the 1974 edition.