Oklahoma Derby Prime Attraction for Life After Triple Crown

Departing was a Triple Crown runner
who went on to run in the Oklahoma Derby

One of the final chances 3-year-olds have to add a Derby win to their resume, the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby has attracted a field of 10 or more in three of the five years since it was regraded in 2013.

A $400,000 race, the Oklahoma Derby has been known to attract Triple Crown runners in past years with Kentucky Derby runners shipping in to Oklahoma City for the prize. Perhaps the most well-known of those horses was Breeders’ Cup winner and Kentucky Derby third Battle of Midway (Smart Strike), who finished second last year.

Since it was regranted its Grade 3 status, the Oklahoma Derby has had a Triple Crown runner all but one year. Of the six Triple Crown runners to run, only one has been able to win the race with two hitting the board.

Last year the Oklahoma Derby had the most runners of any year with three members of the Triple Crown coming to the race. The most exciting runner in the race at the time may have been Girvin (Tale of Ekati), who had won the Grade 1 betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes two starts before. Though by the end of the year, Battle of Midway took that award with his Grade 1 Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile win. The winner of that race, Kentucky Derby 12th Untrapped, also went on to do good things when finishing on the board in three of his five stakes starts in 2018.

Grade 1 Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes runner-up Tale of Verve (Tale of Ekati) made the most Triple Crown race runs of any horse to then go to the Oklahoma Derby when coming in 2015 (Lone Sailor will soon be added to that list after today’s running of the race). He finished second in the Preakness before a seventh in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by DraftKings. The Oklahoma Derby was part of a campaign that also saw him compete in the Grade 1 Travers and Grade 2 West Virginia Derby.

The Triple Crown runner to go off at shortest odds in this race wasn’t a Kentucky Derby runner, it was Preakness runner Departing (War Front). A hyped horse throughout his 3-year-old campaign, Departing came into the Oklahoma Derby off impressive Grade 2 West Virginia Derby and Grade 2 Super Derby victories. That led to the gelding going off at .30-to-1 odds though he was only able to finish fourth in the race.

It should be noted that Shotgun Kowboy is the only favorite to win the Oklahoma Derby in that 2013-on time frame.

This year’s Oklahoma Derby has three Triple Crown runners in Lone Sailor (Majestic Warrior), Diamond King (Quality Road), and Combatant (Scat Daddy). None of them are the morning line favorite with Limation (Alternation) getting that distinction after winning the Grade 3 Super Derby by 5 ¾ lengths over Lone Sailor last time out.

The Oklahoma Derby, contested at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt, is set to go off at 8:06 p.m. central time on Sunday evening.

           TRIPLE CROWN RACE RUNNERS TO RUN IN OKLAHOMA DERBY 2013 - 2018
Year
Horse
Best TC Placing
Oklahoma Derby Placing
2013
Departing
6th (Preakness)
4th
2014
Wildcat Red
18th (Kentucky Derby)
3rd
2015
Tale of Verve
2nd (Preakness)
8th
2017
Untrapped
12th (Kentucky Derby)
1st
2017
Battle of Midway
3rd (Kentucky Derby)
2nd
2017
Girvin
13th (Kentucky Derby)
5th
2018
Lone Sailor
5th (Preakness)
n/a
2018
Diamond King
7th (Preakness)
n/a
2018
Combatant
18th (Kentucky Derby)
n/a


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