Greeley's Conquest eyes Phoenix

Greeley's Conquest, winner of the $200,000 Remington Park Sprint Championship who was forced to miss a stakes start Sunday in New Mexico, could now be headed to Kentucky. A small bout with colic knocked him out of this past weekend's $100,000 Premiere Handicap at Zia Park, but the plan is to regroup and consider a stakes at Keeneland.

"We'll probably point for the Phoenix," said Gary Thomas, who trains Greeley's Conquest.

The Phoenix, a Grade 3, $250,000 race at six furlongs, is to be run Oct. 9. Greeley's Conquest edged last year's winner, Sing Baby Sing, by a half-length in the Remington Park Sprint Championship on Aug. 22. It was Greeley's Conquest's first start since April, when he was beaten a neck by Semaphore Man in the Grade 3, $150,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn.

Greeley's Conquest, a multiple stakes winner of $444,533, races for Millard Seldin. He would be making his first start on a synthetic surface in the Phoenix. The race is a Win and You're In for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Golden Yank targets winter return

Golden Yank, who last year won both the Oklahoma Derby and the Zia Park Derby, recently resumed training after a freshening and has a long-term goal of making the $200,000 Distance Championship at Zia on Dec. 6, Thomas said. The 1 1/8-mile stakes would be the horse's first major objective since he last raced in May.

"He's just back galloping," Thomas said. "We'll probably target that race at Zia. I'm just kind of thinking that way right now."

Golden Yank is a multiple stakes winner of $731,691 and like Greeley's Conquest he races for Seldin. Both horses are based at Remington.

Asmussen triples at Remington

Trainer Steve Asmussen saddled three winners on a card for the third straight racing program at Remington on Friday night, when he won the first, fourth, and eighth races. He also had triples at the track on Sept. 6 and Sept. 7.

The hot hand came on the same day Asmussen registered the 5,000th win of his career, at Woodbine in Canada. He is the leading trainer in North America and has come out running at the young meet at Remington. Asmussen has won 21 races through the first 12 dates of the meet to lead the standings. Overall, he has won five titles at Remington.

Owner, trainer McCoy dies at 70

Jim McCoy, an owner and trainer whose Orion Stables were a presence throughout the Midwest, died late last month at a hospital in Kansas. He was 70.

McCoy began training horses in the late 1970s and won two titles at The Woodlands in Kansas, according to an obituary from Bruce Funeral Home. McCoy also raced at Oaklawn, Arlington, and other tracks throughout the Midwest and served on the board of the Kansas Thoroughbred Association.

* Ti Township, who became a stakes winner last month in the $50,000 Red Earth for statebreds at Remington, could make his next start on the Oklahoma Classics Day program Sept. 26, according to trainer Allen Milligan. The horse is a candidate for the $70,000 Turf.

* Bubbler, a 3-year-old filly by Distorted Humor, looked good winning her debut by 6 1/2 lengths at Remington on Sept. 7. She covered six furlongs in a rapid 1:09.63 to earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 82. Bubbler is trained by Bret Calhoun.