Horsemen's Park: Festival concludes with Omaha Stakes

OMAHA, Neb. – A pair of past winners of the Omaha Stakes and a host of new ship-ins will close out the summer festival of racing at Horsemen’s Park on Sunday when a cast of eight older horses will go one mile in the $30,000 Omaha.

The closing-day feature is slotted as the last of six races on Sunday and features the 2009 and 2010 winners of this race, Orientate Express and Tenth Power.

Orientate Express has been lightly raced since his 2009 campaign, during which he also scored victories in the Remington Green over Remington Park’s turf course and the Veteran Stakes at Zia Park. Following a neck loss in the Connally Turf Handicap at Sam Houston in January 2010, Orientate Express went on the shelf and missed all of 2011. He made his return to the races in a turf claiming sprint at Arlington Park, then stretched out to a mile there on July 1 and led throughout to score over $10,000 claiming rivals. Now trained by Dan Peitz, Orientate Express will have Nebraska native Channing Hill in the irons.

Tenth Power is a local campaigner who won this race in 2010 and changed hands earlier this year for a $10,000 tag. Terrell Hemmer took the 6-year-old Ten Most Wanted gelding out of optional claiming company at Lincoln on May 20. At Fonner Park this spring, Tenth Power flashed signs of his best form with a rousing 8 1/2-length win in the Dowd Mile Stakes, then regressed when soundly beaten three weeks later in the Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes. Karlo Lopez will ride.

Trainer Jon Arnett brings in Warning Song as the likely Omaha favorite here. Warning Song has been claimed three times this year, including twice for $35,000 during the Prairie Meadows season. A versatile son of Successful Appeal, Warning Song was third in the Iowa Sprint Handicap in his last start June 29 after being claimed off a 9 1/4-length win against optional claiming company in May. He has four wins at Sunday’s distance from nine starts and will have David Mello aboard.

Don Von Hemel sends out an uncoupled entry in Smack Ridge and Sherriff Cogburn. Both horses are owned by country star Toby Keith’s Dream Walkin Farms. Sherriff Cogburn was graded stakes-placed last year when second in the Iowa Derby and third in the West Virginia Derby. Regular rider Perry Compton rides.