Remington Diary: Christmas Cheer in Oklahoma at Springboard Mile

Attending Remington Park has quickly become one of my favorite racing trips of the year so when I was invited back for Springboard Mile weekend this year, I jumped at the chance.

The great thing about Remington Park is that you can’t help but get in the Christmas spirit when you get to the track. There are Christmas lights everywhere and Christmas music blaring on the speakers, so you can’t help but feel a little jolly.

But an even better part about Remington is how friendly the people are. When I arrived at the track on Friday morning, I hit the ground running to get in interviews for the track and for stories I was running for other outlets. The headliner of Friday was meeting Shotgun Kowboy and getting photos of the gelding for a feature published on Blinkers Off.

The morning also included a stop by the Steve Asmussen barn to talk to Darren Fleming about the 19 horses they were running on Sunday’s card (you can see that video on Remington Park’s Facebook) and Blake Cox about Springboard favorite Answer In (Dialed In), trained by his father.

It was a full day of racehorses at Remington Park with the night racing giving me my first chance to get back into the night race groove – something I don’t often get to do. While I did a lot of playing around with my new camera so not every shot worked, I did get a few of my favorites for the year.

The first came as the first group of horses was coming into the tunnel. If you’ve never been to Remington, I’ll set the stage for you. The tunnel is backlit from the paddock by the on-track screen. So it provides a unique challenge. But it also provides a really good chance to get silhouettes in the right circumstances.

That was exactly what happened when one of the racehorses was unsettled in the tunnel. His groom was quick to reassure him and it made for a good reminder of how much people working in racing love the horses.

Not long after, there was a perfectly timed run to the finish by Rollin River (Foreign Policy) to not only hit the board for the first time in his career but also provide a perfect picture under a near full moon. The orange moon “haunted” the track for a few nights and gave me some great opportunities to capture the horses running under it. 

If you’ve been paying attention to social media since the Keeneland November Sale, you’ll know that the flashy Southern Phantom is now located at Remington Park. The 3-year-old colt has settled in well to his new surroundings and Saturday morning was all about catching up with him for a Blood-Horse feature.

While it was a pleasure to see the flashy horse happy and acting like he was King of the Shedrow, it was even nicer to meet his connections Danny and Allison Caldwell. Not only were they willing to let me learn all about their new pride and joy, they also let me get in some much-needed horse time while introducing me to horses in the shedrow.

It was great to learn that Allison is a former barrel racer just like me so we connected over the National Finals Rodeo, which led to a night watching the final round of the rodeo with the Caldwells and friends in their box between races. If there was any doubt before that horses bring people together, it was definitely put to rest on Saturday night!

Before I knew it, it was Springboard Mile day. The final domestic Kentucky Derby prep race of the year, the Springboard Mile card comes on closing day at Remington Park and also has five other stakes races on the card.

The first of the stakes sees the girls take the spotlight with the Listed Trapeze Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. The field drew nine fillies, including four from the Steve Asmussen barn with Asmussen starting the stakes just one win behind tying the for the lead on Remington’s all-time leading trainer list.

The regally-bred Princesinha Julia (Pioneerof the Nile) went off as favorite off the back of two straight wins at Remington Park. She made it a close race with stablemate Caribbean Sea (Hard Spun) but ultimately crossed the line first to score her third straight victory and give both Steve Asmussen and the A.P. Indy sireline the trifecta.

Next up was the moment Asmussen had been waiting for … his chance to break the all-time wins record at the track. The trainer had two of the eight horses in the field and had made a minor equipment change with Magical (Tapit), adding blinkers on the filly.

Stablemate Blue Moonrise (Malibu Moon) looked like she’d be hard pressed to be beat when she pulled out five lengths in front of the field as they entered the stretch but the race was on. Magical passed her rival and put the victory to bed when pulling away in the closing strides to win by two lengths.

The victory was a major milestone for all involved in the filly with Asmussen securing the all-time wins record outright and sire Tapit breaking the $150 million mark with her victory.

Lady Orchid (Oratory) had dominated her most of races since debuting in April, even winning two straight in a 14 day period in the Spring. But the 3-year-old filly was out for revenge in the Useeit Stakes on Sunday after suffering her first lost last out and she had her game face on as she came to the paddock.

The filly had to work hard for her first stakes victory but in the end came out with the win by a neck to take her record to four wins in five starts. It was a very festive winner’s circle with her groom unable to keep the small from his face both during her photos and heading back to the barn.

The winner’s circle celebration in the Jim Thorpe Stakes was even bigger when Cowboy Mischief (Into Mischief) won for owner/breeder Kelly Thiesing and a large group that had come out to cheer the colt on.

It was a sign of things to come for the Spendthrift Mile with both a gray (Embolden) and an Into Mischief (Shoplifted) in the field.

Embolden

Shoplifted

Shoplifted was coming off a rough few races at Santa Anita but had shown plenty of talent at Saratoga in the summer, including a Grade 1 placing. However, he went off as the third choice in the field behind last-out maiden winner Answer In, who was coming off an impressive victory in at Churchill Downs. Embolden rounded out the top three shippers as he tried to stretch out for the first time.

Those three proved to be much the best in the field as they battled down to the wire with the rest of the field more than 13 lengths behind them.

It took until the final stride to determine the race winner but in the end, Shoplifted earned 10 points on the Kentucky Derby trail and gave Asmussen his sixth Springboard Mile victory.

As the Springboard Mile celebrations moved back inside, the final race of the Remington meet made its way to the paddock. It was a tough field but the bettors sent Popularity (Distorted Humor) off as the favorite at 2.30-to-1.

But in the end, it was the second-choice Sleepy Eyes Todd (Paddy O’Prado) who pulled off the victory by a neck over Chris and Dave (Bluegrass Cat) to win his first stakes race.

And with that, another year at Remington was in the books. I’ve said it before but if you’re making up a “Must-Visit Tracks” list, Remington Park should be on it. Not only is it fun racing, but it’s a great meet with people who make you feel like family – whether you’re a regular or just a fan stopping by for the day.