High Noon Rider's path should become clearer after Springboard Mile

High Noon Rider’s performance in the $250,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park in Oklahoma City on Sunday will help determine the path for the horse next year at 3, said trainer George Weaver. High Noon Rider will be making his two-turn debut after winning a maiden special weight race at Aqueduct in his most recent start Nov. 19.

Remington closes out its meet Sunday with a special afternoon program that features six stakes worth a cumulative $550,000. The Springboard Mile has a working list of nine to 10 possible starters, according to stakes coordinator Don Thompson. The card also includes the $100,000 Trapeze for 2-year-old fillies at a mile and the $100,000 She’s All In for fillies and mares, a race that is expected to draw Flashy American, Blue Violet, More Than Even, and Diva’s Diamond. Entries are Thursday.

High Noon Rider was due to arrive in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. He flew from New York into Louisville, Ky., then was to van into Remington. Joe Bravo will have the mount in the Springboard Mile, said Weaver. The two-turn start will come in the fourth career race for High Noon Rider, a son of Distorted Humor who launched his career this fall at Belmont Park.

“His first couple of races were going seven furlongs on the grass,” said Weaver, who trains High Noon Rider for R.A. Hill Stable. “His maiden win was a one-turn mile. That’s one thing interesting to us about this race. We’re throwing another dimension at him, and we’ll see how he handles it. It will help us map out things once the first of the year comes around.”

High Noon Rider popped a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 85 in the Aqueduct race. The off-the-turf maiden win was the first try on dirt for the horse, whose dam, Modesty Blaise, is a half-sister to both Aldebaran, a Grade 1 winner on dirt, and Good Journey, a Grade 1 winner on turf. The grass racing early in High Noon Rider’s career was the right fit at the time, said Weaver.

“We worked on the grass, and he seemed to really like it, so we stuck with it,” he said. “A lot of his breezes were over the grass. We were happy with what we were seeing, and he had a little bit of grass in his pedigree, and we just kind of leaned that way. At that point of his career and development, it just seemed like a logical place to start out.”

Weaver said that as High Noon Rider became a fitter horse, he began “working better and better on the dirt.” It was a simple decision to keep him in the field last month when the Aqueduct maiden race came off the turf.

“It wasn’t a complete surprise when he performed well on dirt the day he won,” Weaver said. “He might be a horse that handles both surfaces.”

Others considered possible for the Springboard Mile by Thompson are the stakes winners Bayerd and Shotgun Kowboy; allowance winners Big Big Easy, Dirt Monster, and It’ll Be Fine; maiden winners Sermonizer, Sky Full of Stars, and Super Stroke; and the maiden Hillbilly Style.