Amoss pleased to see Lone Sailor put it all together in Oklahoma Derby

The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby looked like a competitive race on paper and that carried over to the track Sunday at Remington Park.

Lone Sailor ended up winning in a three-way photo, closing on the outside for a nose score over Believe in Royalty, who was sandwiched between rivals while finishing a nose in front of third-place Diamond King.

The race was the tightest finish in the 30-year history of the Oklahoma Derby.

“My first impression when we crossed the wire was, ‘We got beat,’” said Tom Amoss, who trains Lone Sailor. “I consider myself a good judge of finish line photos. Then when I watched the slow motion, I could see there was a very good chance we had our head down, and possibly could have gotten the bob.

“When they put us up, it was pure excitement.”

Lone Sailor had a few horses beaten early in the 1 1/8-mile race, advanced around the final turn, came five wide into the stretch, and rallied under James Graham. He covered the distance on a fast track in 1:49.97 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 88.

Lone Sailor, a son of Majestic Warrior who races for G M B Racing, was nailing down his first stakes win in the Oklahoma Derby. He finished third in both the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity last year at Keeneland and the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational in July at Monmouth Park.

“He’s still a developing horse,” Amoss said. “I’ve said since Day 1 he’s been a slow-maturing horse [as far as] racing and how to battle, so it was a major step forward. He overcame a trip that wasn’t the best, was wider than everyone else, and got the job done. It was a major step forward.”

Amoss said Lone Sailor was to fly back to his Churchill Downs base Wednesday. He said the horse will first have ample recovery time before decisions are made as to what direction to take with him.

“He ran hard,” said Amoss.

Believe in Royalty was headed back to his Churchill base Monday for trainer Larry Jones.

“It was a good horse race,” Jones said. “All three of those horses were giving it their best effort. It kind of sucks to be on the losing end, but we were proud of our horse.”

Believe in Royalty came into the Oklahoma Derby off a win in the Ellis Park Derby. He had been flattered since that August victory, with three horses he defeated coming back in their next start to win, among them Limation in the Grade 3, $300,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs.

Plans are to be determined for Believe in Royalty, a son of Tapit and Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can.

“There’s very few straight 3-year-old races left out there,” Jones said. “There is the Zia Park Derby. We will definitely keep that in the back of our minds. But we don’t have anything planned out for him.”

The $250,000 Zia Derby, at 1 1/16 miles, runs Nov. 21. Believe in Royalty races for Robert Baker, William Mack, and Brereton Jones.

Diamond King set a pressured pace in the Oklahoma Derby and was beaten a head for everything.

“That one hurt,” said trainer John Servis. “He did all the work. He ran really, really well.”

Servis said Diamond King was scheduled to return to his Parx base on Wednesday, with the next move for the two-time stakes winner still being discussed.

“I think we’re probably looking at two options,” said Servis, who trains the colt for Cash Is King, D.J. Stable, and L C Racing. “We’ll probably either go to the Discovery or just shut him down for the rest of the year.”

The Grade 3, $200,000 Discovery for 3-year-olds is Nov. 24 at Aqueduct.

Diamond King is a full brother to Bellafina, who won her second Grade 1 race Saturday at Santa Anita in the Chandelier.

Remington handled $2,411,713 on its 12-race card from all sources, up 3 percent from last year’s Oklahoma Derby Day card, according to track spokesman Dale Day.

◗ Evangeline Downs opened a 46-night Quarter Horse meet on Wednesday. It runs through Dec. 18. The main event is the $1 million Louisiana Million on Dec. 15.