Trading Cards Celebrating Mystik Dan Kentucky Derby Win, Owners’ Arkansas Ties to Be Distributed by Visit Hot Springs
HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — Thirty thousand trading cards celebrating Mystik Dan’s Kentucky Derby Victory and his owners’ Arkansas ties will be printed and distributed by Visit Hot Springs.
“This is a Cinderella story and we want to do something to celebrate this amazing victory for Arkansas and Hot Springs,” Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said Tuesday. “Mystik Dan’s photo-finish win in the Derby and the fact that his owners are Arkansas people, and the fact that the horse is closely connected to Oaklawn made us think that we just had to do something to spread the word.”
“We have done a series of Hot Springs trading cards over the years,” Arrison said. “We did a whole series highlighting Hot Springs as the place where President Bill Clinton grew up. Then we did a series of four cards showcasing the great racing at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort. We did a card for Smarty Jones and cards highlighting American Pharoah and Zenyatta. Our last card honored jockey Calvin Borel on the occasion of his 5,000th victory. They have been among the most successful Hot Springs marketing items we have ever done, with hundreds of thousands distributed free around the globe.
“So, it’s really great that we now get to do a card celebrating Mystik Dan and his wonderful Arkansas owners: Lance and Bobbi Jo Gasaway, Daniel and Lisa Hamby, Brent and Sharilyn Gasaway, and Scott and Katie Hamby. The Gasaways are from Star City/Gould and the Hambys are from right here in Hot Springs. The horse’s trainer, Dan McPeek, also has a home here in Hot Springs.
“The Gasaways and Hambys have said they are ‘ordinary Arkansans’ and that Mystik Dan is a ‘working class’ horse. How great is that?”
Arrison said the cards will be printed in the next few days and that plans for how to distribute them free to fans are being worked out. The cards will follow the traditional format of the earlier cards, which contain a color photo on the front and text information on the back along with information about visiting Hot Springs, Arrison said.
Visit Hot Springs has also done special cards connected to the city’s World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade® and marking Hot Springs’ special ties to Japan through its successful Sister Cities program. “We gave away free cards in Dublin and Hanamaki, Japan,” Arrison said. “We also did a Spanish-language card one time.”
“We had thousands of people line up for the Bill Clinton cards,” he said, “and we want to make sure we work out a way for fans of Mystik Dan and the Gasaways and Hambys to get this one. We’ll have an announcement when we decide how best to distribute these.”
Mystik Dan became the 150th winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby, winning by a nose in an historic three-way photo finish. The horse established a lead in the stretch, and then was all-out to hold off the fast-closing duo of Sierra Leone and Forever Young to get the victory by a nose. He paid $39.22 to win in a final time for the 1 1/4 miles in 2:03.34.
Mystik Dan raced three times in the most recent live racing meet at Oaklawn: Finishing fifth in the Smarty Jones Stakes, winning the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes, and finishing third in the Arkansas Derby.
For more information call Steve Arrison at 501-321-2027.