Remington Park in Oklahoma City has a super Sunday of thoroughbred racing with 10 stakes on a program starting at 3 p.m.
Grade 1 winner Girvin and Kentucky Derby show horse Battle of Midway head the field in the featured Grade 3 $400,000 Oklahoma Derby. Oaklawn Park winner Colonelsdarktemper and locally raced Untrapped are among the eight 3-year-olds going a mile and an eighth on Remington's main track.
"It's almost as tough as the Kentucky Derby," said Untrapped owner Mike Langford, whose Trappe Shot colt placed 12th in the Run for the Roses May 6 at Churchill Downs.
En route to Louisville, Untrapped finished second or third in three consecutive graded Kentucky Derby preps including Oaklawn's Grade 2 Rebel. Sixth in the Arkansas Derby, the dark bay or brown colt has earned more than $300,000 after fetching $125,000 at the April 2016 Ocala Breeders' Sales of 2-year-olds in training. But with only a maiden victory from nine starts, Untrapped needs a stakes win to enhance his future stallion career.
To that end, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen has given Untrapped more than two months off since the colt's third-place finish in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby (won by Irap).
"Steve said about six weeks ago that the colt has gotten long and tall and just wasn't strong enough to defend himself in those races," Langford said. "He's had a chance to develop and fill out. Steve thinks he might be better as a 4-year-old, but I think he's got a good chance in this race. I'd be tickled to finish second or third."
Five-time Oaklawn champion Ricardo Santana Jr. rides Untrapped.
Colonelsdarktemper has blossomed since his February maiden victory at Oaklawn, taking the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby last time out. Veteran Jinks Fires trains the Colonel John colt for legendary auto racer A.J. Foyt Jr. and Jon Court, Fires' son-in-law, has the mount.
Robby Albarado rides Girvin, July's Grade 1 Haskell Invitational winner for trainer Joe Sharp, from outside post eight. Battle of Midway, trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, gets Del Mar riding champion Flavien Prat aboard from post three.
"No doubt this is a tough race," said Langford, of Jonesboro, "one of the toughest (Untrapped) has ever run in."
Also entered are Altito (Ramon Vazquez), B Squared (Mario Gutierrez), McCormick (Julien Leparoux) and Gato Del Oro (Rafael Bejarano). Post time for the Oklahoma Derby (race 11) is 7:46 p.m.
The $200,000 Remington Park Oaks pits champion Champagne Room against graded winner Ever So Clever among five 3-year-old fillies going a mile and sixteenth.
Champagne Room, last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner at Santa Anita, will be the first Thoroughbred champion to run in Oklahoma City since 1999, according to track officials, when Answer Lively went in the Remington Park Derby. Broken Vow's daughter has started only once this year, placing third to Unique Bella in the Grade 2 Las Virgenes at Santa Anita, then was diagnosed with an ankle chip.
Trainer Peter Eurton said he would consider a Breeders' Cup race (Distaff or Filly & Mare Sprint) at Del Mar if all goes well Sunday. Gutierrez, a two-time Kentucky Derby-winning rider for trainer Doug O'Neill, has the mount.
Ever So Clever scored as a 15-1 longshot in April's Grade 3 Fantasy at Oaklawn. The Medaglia d'Oro filly has the Untrapped team of Asmussen and Santana.
Sports on 09/23/2017