Oklahoma Derby One to Remember For Remington

The biggest day of Thoroughbred racing at Remington Park, Oklahoma Derby day has 10 stakes races headlined by the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby and Remington Park Oaks. This year, I was lucky enough to attend and see some up-and-coming stars, top 3-year-olds who have been racing all over the country, and stalwarts of the track who have a huge fan following.

The first stakes race of the day included those rising stars with 2-year-old colts taking center stage in the Kip Deville Stakes. The favorite was Stupify (Twirling Candy), who had won his previous start at the track and was a $110,000 2-year-old purchase in April. But it was B. B. Dude (Shakin It Up), his freshman sire’s first stakes winner in August who added another stakes victory to his resume with a late charge that got him the win over Fast Breakin Cash (Yes It’s True) by a neck.

B.B. Dude overtaking Fast Breakin Cash near the wire.

B.B. Dude has went through the sales ring three times in his life. Bringing $40,000 as a weanling, he was then purchased for $105,000 as a yearling by Jerry Durant. Durant and Asmussen Horse Center ran him through the Texas Thoroughbred Association 2-Year-Old in Training sale but brought him home when he brought a final bid of $15,000. That seems to have paid off for Durant with the colt already earning back his yearling purchase price.

In a change from the 2-year-olds, the Flashy Lady Stakes was next up for fillies and mares three years and older. Marquee Miss (Cowboy Cal) went off as the favorite and one minute and eight seconds later proved how deserving she was of that title with a 5 ¼ length romp in the $50,000 race.

Marquee Miss winning her fifth career stakes race.

Sold for $19,000 at Fasig-Tipton as a yearling, she was then sold the following year as a 2-year-old for $20,000. She’s made $371,608 in her career and races for Rags Racing Stable and Ingrid Mason.

Marquee Miss leaving the winner’s circle after her victory.

The E.L. Maylord Memorial for 2-year-old fillies was the race I was most looking forward to in the juvenile division. While the stand out was Adventurous Lady (Kantharos), who had won her two previous starts, there still looked to be quite a few talented fillies entered.

Adventurous Lady made easy work of the field, winning by 5 ¼ lengths as the favorite but behind her the second and third place horses (Ta and Miss Perfecta) were only a neck apart. This will be an interesting field to follow in the future both regionally and nationally with Adventurous Lady looking like she could step up to tougher company easily.

Even if the field had gotten closer, Adventurous Lady looked bound and determined to win the race.

Adventurous Lady was one of those Asmussen/Durant pinhooks who failed to sell after being bought for $130,000 as a yearling. However, both potential buyers and seller must have thought highly of the filly as she RNAed for $100,000 at the Texas 2-year-old sale. That price would have put her near the top of the leaderboard.

Adventurous Lady

It has long been argued that we’ll build up a bigger fan base by keeping horses in training longer and that is what the Red Earth Stakes – open to accredited Oklahoma foals three years and older – showed. The field had a lot of old warriors in it and the fans at the track were obviously familiar with them. Listening to the crowd as the field broke from the gate, they all seemed to have their old favorites and they weren’t let down. Interestingly, the biggest cheers of the day came in this race.

The field first time by in the Red Earth.

Behind Perfect to Please, an 8-year-old by Pleasantly Perfect, five of the horses were within 2 ½ lengths of each other with the final two only half a length apart at the finish. It was a top result for trainer Veronica Griggs, who finished first and second in the race. Griggs has won the Red Earth three of the last four years – her other wins being Perfect to Please in 2015 and second placed Pacific Typhoon in 2017.

Trainer Veronica Griggs after her Red Earth exacta.

Named after former Remington Park general manager David M. Vance, the six furlong David M. Vance Stakes was all about the grays. Race favorite Petrov (Flatter) was one of multiple grays in the field and was coming off a summer in Saratoga, where he had won an allowance race in August.

Petrov

But while Petrov could only finish fourth, it was another open length victory in the race by the other gray, the 5-year-old Welder (The Visualiser). Another horse I am familiar with in Leadem in Ken (not surprisingly, bred and at one time raced by Ken Ramsey) was able to hold on for second.

Welder won by 3 ¼ lengths.

Perhaps the most popular horse to run on the card was Shotgun Kowboy (Kodiak Kowboy), the 2015 Oklahoma Derby winner who has spent most of his career tearing up this circuit.  His popularity and many peoples’ belief in his “sure thing” chance at winning saw him bet down to 4/5 before the running of the Governor’s Cup.

Shotgun Kowboy

The major opponent in the race was Hence (Street Boss), another horse down from Saratoga who ran in last year’s Kentucky Derby. While Shotgun Kowboy was clearly the favorite both in betting and popularity Hence was close behind with the next closest horse at 7-to-1.

Hence pre-race

While Shotgun Kowboy faded near the end of the race to finish third, Hence ran like one would expect a horse of his quality to run when dropping to a listed stakes. He was another open length winner with 3 ¼ lengths on former Derby hopeful Forevamo.

Coming down to the shadow of the grandstand there was a four way battle with Hence about to easily pull away.

Bred and owned by Calumet, Hence was the third winner of the day for Ricardo Santana Jr. and Steve Asmussen.

Two races later, it was time for the Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks. Recently upgraded, the Remington Oaks has attracted a few good horses every year and this year was no exception with Asmussen sending in recent Grade 1-placed She’s a Julie (Elusive Quality) in a field that had a who’s who of trainers from Todd Pletcher to Doug O’Neill.

Cosmic Burst leads in the Remington Oaks field.

Not surprisingly with her form, She’s a Julie went off as the favorite in the race. From the start, it was all Remedy (Creative Cause) and She’s a Julie on the front end with no one else getting a call in the first two positions.

The Oaks field races into the first turn.

Remedy grudgingly yielded to She’s a Julie in the stretch with that rival pulling away by 1 ½ lengths but she wasn’t going to give up second, holding Cosmic Burst (Violence) off by a nose.

She’s a Julie with the next two hot on her heels.

She’s a Julie was bred by Godolphin and sold as a yearling through the Blandford Stud consignment for $160,000. The filly has won four of her 10 starts with three other on the board finishes for over $450,000 in earnings. She was another winner on the day for Santana Jr. and Asmussen.

She’s a Julie getting well deserved pats after the race.

The feature of the night had finally arrived after 10 races when the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby field made its way into the tunnel as the colts headed to the paddock.

The Derby field as they headed up the hill into the tunnel.

The field included Wooderson, an Awesome Again half-brother to Rachel Alexandra, who was making his stakes debut.

Wooderson

The gray Tapit son Believe In Royalty, who is well named as the son of Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can (Proud Citizen), was looking for his first graded stakes win.

Believe In Royalty and trainer Larry Jones

While Triple Crown race runners Lone Sailor (Majestic Warrior), Diamond King (Quality Road) and Combatant (Scat Daddy) were a few others people were keen to see.

Lone Sailor had run in most of the big races coming into this start.

Diamond King was making his third start since the Preakness.

Combatant was back on dirt after a few post-Kentucky Derby starts on turf.

When David Vance made the command for riders to mount up, tension built as the race drew closer.

David Vance in the paddock before the Oklahoma Derby.

With the talent in the field, it promised to be an exciting Oklahoma Derby and it did not disappoint from the moment the gates opened.

The field soon after breaking from the gate.

In a race to remember, it was a three-horse battle to the wire between Believe In Royalty, Diamond King, and Lone Sailor with all three horses refusing to yield. In the end, Lone Sailor’s nose made the difference in getting him the win with Believe In Royalty just nosing out Diamond King right behind him. It was the closest margin in the history of the race.

The duel in the shadow of the wire.

After multiple attempts to get a Derby victory, Lone Sailor finally pulled it off in Oklahoma. The colt has danced most of the dances throughout the Triple Crown and summer season.

Lone Sailor with his blanket of flowers.

Jockey James Graham was ecstatic, taking the blanket as soon as it came off the colt’s back. Joking that he had wings and could fly, he wore the blanket for his TVG interview and even flapped his “wings” a few times.

James Graham with the trophy and blanket.

As one final salute to his win, Graham “drank” from the Oklahoma Derby trophy.

Overall, the Oklahoma Derby was a fun day of racing with events going on around the track from beginning to end. I’d be remiss not to thank Hyatt Place Brickyard for hosting my visit, it was hard to tear myself away from the extremely comfortable room and top notch customer service at the end of my trip.