The Southwest Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt run annually in late January at Oaklawn Park Race Track in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The inaugural running of the event was on 2 March 1968 as the Southwest Handicap over a distance of six furlongs and was won by Robert E. Lehmann's Mr. Crozy by 2+1⁄2 lengths in a fast time on 1:102⁄5.
[7] The 1984 winner Whitebrush set a new track record for the mile distance which still stands at Oaklawn Park.
[8] For many years the event was usually held during the President's Day weekend but was moved to late January after Oaklawn Park introduced a new schedule of their expanded program for the 2021–22 racing season.
[6] In 2024, the race was moved back one week from January 27 to February 3 due to weather.