Extra furlong should suit Hallelujah Hit in Oklahoma Stallion Stakes

Hallelujah Hit will get the added ground he craves on Friday night when he moves to seven furlongs for a division of the $50,000 Oklahoma Stallion Stakes at Remington Park.

Friday’s second $50,000 division of the Oklahoma Stallion is for fillies, and Okie Diva could go favored over a capable Baby K.

The races are restricted to 3-year-olds by eligible stallions.

Hallelujah Hit last raced over six furlongs, finishing fast for third in a first-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up at Remington on Sept. 1. The start was his first since June 10.

“He ran a good race,” said C. R. Trout, who bred, owns, and trains Hallelujah Hit. “He was closing. The six furlongs is just too short for him. Seven-eighths to a mile is just right. I think he’ll give a good account of himself.”

Hallelujah Hit won the $75,000 Don McNeill for Oklahoma-breds at a mile last Nov. 18 at Remington.

Hallelujah Hit on Friday will break from post 4 in the field of 10 under Richard Eramia.

“He’ll lay mid-pack,” Trout said. “He’ll close.”

Hallelujah Hit is a son of Mr. Nightlinger and a half-brother to Imahit, a stakes winner at seven furlongs who earned $506,168 for Trout.

Makin the Dough finished second to Hallelujah Hit in the Don McNeill. He is making his first start since winning the $55,000 Will Rogers Handicap against fellow 3-year-olds on April 25 at Will Rogers Downs. He was always prominent in the mile and 70-yard race, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 69 that he earned ties him with Hallelujah Hit for the field’s highest last-race number.

Makin the Dough shows a nice series of works for his first start in about five months, and his trainer, Roger Engel, wins at a 50 percent rate with horses returning from layoffs of 61 to 180 days, according to Daily Racing Form statistics.

Witt’sdollarnight won the $25,000 Harry Jeffrey at Assiniboia Downs in July.

In the fillies division, also at seven furlongs, Trout will be represented by another homebred in Sunday Night Miss. She is coming off a closing fourth in a first-level allowance at six furlongs and could start as third choice behind Okie Diva, winner of last year’s Oklahoma Classics Lassie at Remington, and Baby K, who beat Oklahoma-bred fillies and mares in the $45,000 Muskogee Creek Nation on July 29 at Fair Meadows.

Trout said he thinks the extra furlong of Friday’s race will benefit Sunday Night Miss.

“The longer she goes, the better she’ll get,” he said.