Charlies Fury looks for change of fortune in Remington allowance

Charlies Fury finished worse than third for the first time in his 13-race career with a fifth-place finish in the Oklahoma Challenge Championship at 440 yards on March 29 at Remington Park.

It was an uncharacteristic performance for a gelding with a history of bad luck in lucrative races.

A 4-year-old, Charlies Fury has shown promise since the beginning of his career in 2018. His long-term success may make him a leading choice in an allowance race at 350 yards on Friday at Remington Park.

The allowance race is the ninth race on a 10-race program that begins at 7 p.m. Eastern, or 6 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

The fifth-place finish on March 29 was Charlies Fury’s first start since October, when he was second in the $154,750 Adequan Derby Challenge at The Downs at Albuquerque as the 7-5 second choice.

Owned by breeders Tom and Kathleen McNally, Charlies Fury has a 4-for-12 record but has started in 13 races. He finished first in the $266,765 Black Gold 440 Championship at Will Rogers Downs in November 2018, but the race was voided because of a starting gate malfunction. Instead of the winner’s share of $106,706, Charlies Fury and the other nine runners were awarded equal shares of $26,675.

Aside from the runner-up finish at Albuquerque, Charlies Fury was third in the $367,750 Heritage Place Derby at Remington Park last June.

A successful race Friday could lead to another stakes appearance before the Remington Park Quarter Horse meeting ends on May 30.

Charlies Fury, trained by Michelle Hurdle, must beat Temptingsecretfly and Watah Flash, who also have been successful in stakes in the last year.

Temptingsecretfly was third behind Charlies Fury in the Black Gold 440 Championship in 2018. More recently, Temptingsecretfly was third in the $72,500 Boyd Morris Memorial Stakes for Oklahoma-breds at Remington Park last May.

Watah Flash, the morning-line favorite, had a successful 2019 meeting at Remington Park, finishing second in the $319,975 Remington Park Oklahoma-Bred Derby at 400 yards and winning the $55,250 Jack Brooks Stakes at 350 yards.

The current Remington Park meeting has not been as kind. Watah Flash was third by a head in a 350-yard allowance race on March 15, but was disqualified and placed fourth for causing interference in the stretch. Trained by John Stinebaugh, Watah Flash was later sixth of eight in the $59,000 Mr. Jet Moore Stakes at 350 yards on April 2.