Show Me The Money: How Remington Stakes Runners Are Rewarding Owners

While we all know that racing can be hard on your wallet, one of the things I enjoy doing on big stakes days is seeing how much horses have paid back their connections. Have they made back their purchase price, are they right on the cusp of making it back, or are they not holding up their end of the deal?

For this piece, I looked at the homebreds, least expensive, and most expensive horses in every stakes race on Remington’s Sunday card to see where each category sits. Interestingly, nearly all of them have earnings over their original price or are close to getting to that point.

Note: This doesn’t take in to account private purchase prices or claiming prices after the horse was sold from the original buyer or the various other expenses (breaking bills, training bills, ect) the horses incurred after they left the ring or their breeder paid the stud fee.

 USEEIT STAKES

3YO Oklahoma-Bred Fillies Going One Mile On Dirt

Tizway

Homebred: Three Chords (Euroears) – Bred by Toby Keith’s Dream Walkin Farms, Three Chords is coming into the Useeit Stakes with two straight stakes wins by a combined seven starts and four victories from 10 career starts. She is out of a daughter of Keith’s homebred Grade 3 winner Cactus Ridge and is doing both sides of her family proud with just three off-the-board starts in her career. Her sire stood for $2,500 in 2015 – 75 times less than her $188,098 in earnings.

Least Expensive: Spring Steen (Maclean’s Music) – Bringing the hammer down at $5,000 at the Heritage Place Thoroughbred Mixed Sale in 2016, Spring Steen left the ring unsold. The 3-year-old filly has made those who didn’t bid on her second guess their decision this year, winning her debut by two lengths in September and winning an allowance last out for two wins in three starts. The Oklahoma-bred has made over 10 times her final bid with $52,905 in earnings.

 Most Expensive: Sydney Freeman (Tizway) – An $80,000 purchase by trainer Donnie Von Hemel, Sydney Freeman is racing for her breeder Robert Zoellner. The filly is a regular at Remington Park with seven starts there including two stakes wins at the track. She’s made $165,134 this year and $249,865 in her career – three times the price Von Hemel signed the ticket for at last year’s Texas Thoroughbred Association Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale.

 JIM THORPE STAKES

3YO Oklahoma-Breds Going One Mile On Dirt

Flat Out

Homebred: Shannon C (Latent Heat) – You know you made the right choice on keeping a horse you bred when he only finishes worse than second once – that coming in his debut in January. He redeemed himself in a big way when he then won his next three starts, including the Oklahoma Stallion Stakes.  He’s had the misfortune of running into Welder (The Visualiser) his last two outs to finish second both times but he won’t be facing that rival this race. The $117,818 Shannon C has earned is 59 times the stud fee his sire stands for in 2019.

Lease Expensive: Kent’s Bet (Kodiak Kowboy) – If you had been at the Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Silver Cup Sale in 2016, you could have purchased this gelding for $4,500. Kent’s Bet has been extremely unlucky in his career, finishing second or third six times in 10 starts but he’d never been able to break his maiden. This is a step up in class but he was second at Remington two starts ago so he does seem to like the track at least a bit.

Most Expensive: United Patriot (Flat Out) – A sales ring veteran, United Patriot has been through the sales ring four times and done the remarkable – gotten significantly more expensive each time. He started out as a $60,000 weanling then RNAed for $85,000 as Fasig-Tipton July before selling for $110,000 three months later. His crowning moment came as a 2-year-old when he sold for $155,000 at Barretts March 2-Year-Old Sale. He started his career in California and moved to Kentucky and Louisiana quicky after that before returning to his state of birth in September to run at Remington. The stakes placed gelding has an allowance win and two allowance thirds at the track and was fifth two weeks ago against older horses. His career earnings of $124,086 mean that if he wins this race, he’ll have won back his 2-year-old purchase price in 17 starts.

 SHE’S ALL IN STAKES

3YO+ Fillies & Mares Going One Mile 70 Yards On Dirt

To Honor And Serve

Homebred: Another Bond Girl (Don’t Get Mad) – Bred and raced by William Higgins and Brent Davidson, Another Bond Girl has proven to be a nice stakes horse for her breeders. She won her second stakes attempt in the Oklahoma Classics Lassie Stakes at Remington Park in 2015 before placing in three of her next four stakes runs. Overall, from 20 stakes appearances she has hit the board 11 times with two victories. Her earnings of $258,610 are over 129 times her sire’s stud fee of $2,000 when she was conceived.

Least Expensive: Clever Serve (To Honor And Serve) – A 4-year-old mare, Clever Serve looks like an astute purchase for Barry Doss as a yearling when he paid $10,000 for her at the Fasig-Tipton October Sale. While he doesn’t get to take advantage of her success now, when she was claimed last year, he netted a profit of $20,000 off her purchase price (Note: That does not take into account training bills paid for her since his purchase). Steve Asmussen claimed her two starts later for $20,000 and still owns/trains the mare today. This year he has only run her in allowance races, where she has done extremely well with all eight of her starts being on-the-board finishes. She’ll be making her first stakes appearance here. While she has gone through multiple owners since her yearling purchase, she has made that purchase price back 17.7 times.

Most Expensive: Shenandoah Queen (Henny Hughes) – Nearly the least expensive at a short yearling price of $24,000, Shenandoah Queen’s time in the ring in November makes her the most expensive in the field at $385,000. Making her first stakes start a year and a half after her debut, the mare won that Del Mar Stakes race by three-quarters of a length and has only been outside of stakes competition once since then. Her other stakes victory came in this year’s edition of the race with her second-to-last placing before going through the ring being a very valuable third in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes. The mare has earned $258,610 in her career, nearly 11 times her yearling price and will be making the first start for her new owners here.

 TRAPEZE STAKES

2YO Fillies Going One Mile On Dirt

Discreetly Mine

Homebred: Discreet Beauty (Discreetly Mine) – A homebred for Bruce Murphy, Discreet Beauty has already earned her breeder valuable blacktype before shipping in to Remington Park. She broke her maiden on debut then went on and won by three lengths in the City of Anderson Stakes next out before finishing third in the miss Indiana Stakes. She comes into this race off an allowance optional claiming race third at Churchill Downs. Her $103,902 in earnings is nearly 10.4 times the stud fee her sire stood for at Lane’s End in 2015.

Lease Expensive: Cover Charge (Take Charge Indy) – A $7,500 yearling at Keeneland September, this filly is also the most experienced with nine starts in her career. Racing for the Lone Star Racing Club since the beginning of her career, the WinStar-bred has taken them on quite the journey with three stakes placing from three stakes starts though she just broke her maiden three starts back. She has been on the board in six of her nine starts for $45,853 in earnings.

Most Expensive: Merada (Speightstown) – By one of the top sires in the U.S., Merada was a $100,000 yearling who then RNAed as a $130,000 2-year-old. An Asmussen trainee, Merada started her career finishing second before a sixth at Saratoga. Shipped to Remington Park in the summer, she has thrived finishing second in a maiden before winning her next two by a combined 6 ¾ lengths.

SPRINGBOARD MILE

2YO Going One Mile On Dirt

Homebred: Long Range Toddy (Take Charge Indy) – Owner/breeder Willis Horton comes into this year’s Springboard Mile with multiple horses but only one homebred. Long Range Toddy is by a half-brother to Horton’s champion Will Take Charge and out of an Unbridled’s Song mare – the sire of Will Take Charge. Long Range Toddy has spent his whole career thus far at Remington Park and obviously loves the track with a maiden victory by 5 ¾ lengths and a one-length victory in the Listed Clever Trevor as a prep for this race. He’s earned $81,215 in his career, a little over four times his sire’s $20,000 stud fee in 2015.

Least Expensive: Dobbins G (Jimmy Creed) – Dobbins G may prove to be the biggest bargain on the card if he can win here. A $4,300 purchase at the Carter Sales Company 2017 Yearlings and Horses of Racing Age Sale, he’s hit the board in four of his six starts and already has black type. He finished third in the Don C. McNeill Stakes last out a start after breaking his maiden and has earned $49,224 in his career, nearly 11.5 times his purchase price.

Most Expensive: Bankit (Central Banker) – An $85,000 yearling turned into a $260,000 2-year-old, Bankit has almost reached that 2-year-old purchase price in five starts. He broke his maiden at Saratoga second out before finishing second in the Funny Cide Stakes. His only blip came in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes where he finished fourth but he put that loss behind him when winning the Sleepy Hollow Stakes by 5 ¾ lengths. The colt is a little over $10,000 behind that 2-year-old price but has earned by 33.3 times his sire’s advertised stud fee for 2015.

 JEFFREY A. HAWK MEMORIAL STAKES

3YO+  Going One Mile 70 Yards On Dirt

Shotgun Kowboy

Homebred: Shotgun Kowboy (Kodiak Kowboy) – One of the best regional racing stories in recent times, Shotgun Kowboy is bred/owned/trained by C. R. Trout. The gelding has been a star since the beginning, breaking his maiden in his first start and winning the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby the following year. The gelding has raced for five seasons now and has $1,375,501 in earnings with 13 wins and 10 other top three finishes from 32 starts. Bred on an advertised fee of $10,000, Shotgun Kowboy has earned 137.5 times him stud fee.

Least Expensive: Analyze This Jet (Overanalyze) – A $5,000 yearling late in the Keeneland September sale in 2016, Analyze This Jet has gone on to win a stakes for $113,264 in earnings. Breaking his maiden last Fall, he came back 10 days later to win the El Joven Stakes by 1 ¼ lengths. The gelding won two starts ago and has finished on the board in three other races this year with two of those finishes and his win all coming at Remington Park. He has made $113,264 in earnings in his career, 22.6 times his purchase price.

Most Expensive: Net Gain (Include) – It’s not often you see an Iowa-bred with a sales record like Net Gain’s. The gelding was purchased for $325,000 as a 2-year-old by WinStar Farm and was stakes placed for the operation before being sold  for $120,000 in their annual racing stock reduction in 2015. Net Gain has had success since that sale with multiple stakes wins and even hitting the board in allowances at Churchill Downs. So far he’s earned $411,734 in his career with $70,186 coming this year and $279,594 since he was sold in 2015 to make back both his purchase prices though with his combined earnings and sales price, he didn’t make back that original price for WinStar.