After failing to qualify for futurity, Angels First Wagon settles for maiden race

There was no margin for error in the time trials for the Remington Park Oklahoma-Bred Futurity on April 3-4.

The horses with the five-fastest times in the 10 trials each evening advanced to the $891,900 final on April 19. There was a $100,000 consolation for the trial runners with the sixth- through 10th-fastest times.

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Angels First Wagon did not qualify for either race. The colt was second in the first time trial on April 3, finishing 330 yards in 16.87 seconds. That evening, the slowest qualifying time for the final was 16.74. For the consolation, the cutoff was 16.83.

Instead of running in a six-figure futurity, Angels First Wagon will start Thursday at Remington Park in an $18,300 maiden special weight race for Oklahoma-breds at 300 yards. Trained by Guillermo Valdivia, Angels First Wagon will have his third start Thursday.

Valdivia’s stable has certainly been in good form since the meeting began March 6. Through Sunday, Valdivia was third in the trainers’ standings with 19 wins, seven behind leader Eddie D. Willis.

Angels First Wagon, by prominent stallion PYC Paint your Wagon, was ninth in a maiden special weight race at 250 yards in his debut March 8. In the time trial on April 3, Angels First Wagon had a clean trip and finished a length behind A Dash of Sign, who was sixth in the Remington Park Oklahoma-Bred Futurity.

Thursday, Angels First Wagon is part of a field of 10 in the fifth race on a 10-race program that begins at 7 p.m. Eastern. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Angels First Wagon’s leading rivals are Hes a Travelling Man, the mount of leading rider James Flores; Toastincoronas, second in a division of the April 4 trials; and Doubters Beware, a troubled fifth in a division of the Oklahoma Futurity trials on March 7.

The maiden special weight race for 2-year-old Oklahoma-breds has been split into two divisions.

In the seventh race, Might B Jesse, fourth as the 6-5 favorite in a time trial on April 4, will have his third start. Trained by Rex Brooks, Might B Jesse must beat MH Apollitical Spy and Kiss Me in the Snow, who were second in time trials on April 3.