Ibaka tackles Turf bidding for five in a row

Some veteran runners will be looking to pull off significant feats Friday night during the $1 million Oklahoma Classics program at Remington Park. Ibaka is attempting to win his fifth consecutive race in the $130,000 Turf, Imahit is chasing his third win in the $175,000 Classic, and Okie Ride seeks his fourth win in the $130,000 Sprint.

The races are among the eight divisional stakes on the card, all restricted to horses bred in Oklahoma. Remington will feature an all-stakes pick four on races 4-7, with a minimum guaranteed pool of $70,000.

Ibaka has risen to the forefront among Oklahoma-bred runners at this meet. He has won all three of his starts over the local turf course, including back-to-back allowances against open company, defeating such horses as 2015 Oklahoma Derby winner Shotgun Kowboy. Ibaka then knocked out the seventh stakes win of his career in the $50,000 Red Earth, the local prep for the Classics Turf on Sept. 25 at Remington.

“He’s accomplished a lot in his career,” said Bret Calhoun, who trains Ibaka for breeder Doug Wall. “He’s won over half of his starts and done it at a lot of different tracks. He’s just gotten good and stayed good.”

Ibaka has won multiple stakes on dirt, but Calhoun said he thinks his horse is at his best on grass, and a decision was made to target the Turf rather than the other races to which he was nominated, the Classic and Sprint. The horse won last year’s Turf and this time around will break from post 4 under jockey C.J. McMahon.

“Tactically, he’s pretty versatile,” Calhoun said. “It makes it nice. If somebody wants the lead, we sure can give it to them.”

Ibaka overall is 4 for 4 on the turf at Remington. His rivals in the nine-horse field include Runandyrun and Tenspeed, who finished second and third in the Red Earth.

◗ Imahit will attempt to become the third horse, joining Mr Ross and Zee Oh Six, to win a record three runnings of the Classic. The race for 3-year-olds and up will be run over 1 1/16 miles. Imahit won the race in 2013 and again in 2014.

A field of 13 is set for the Classic.

C.R. Trout, who bred, owns, and trains Imahit, has accounted for the last three runnings of the race. He sent out Shotgun Kowboy to claim the Classic in 2015 as Imahit instead ran in the Sprint and finished third. Imahit tuned up for this year’s Classic in an optional $35,000 claiming sprint and finished second by a half-length. He will be making his third start since December.

Geovanni Franco has the mount on Imahit, who will break from post 6. The last time he won the Classic, Imahit went wire-to-wire, scoring by 2 1/4 lengths over Z Rockstar. Z Rockstar is back for Friday night’s renewal, with Luis Quinonez to ride for trainer Donnie Von Hemel.

◗ In other races, Gianna’s Dream and Penguini, who were both stakes winners on the Oklahoma Derby undercard last month at Remington, meet in the $130,000 Distaff Turf. Penguini defeated open company in the Ricks Memorial, and Gianna’s Dream bested Oklahoma-breds in the Bob Barry Memorial.

◗ Euro K Shotgun seeks to remain perfect in three starts when she faces older rivals for the first time in the $130,000 Distaff Sprint. The chief threat is Devious Rumor, who defeated Oklahoma-bred males two starts ago in the Remington Park Turf Sprint.

◗ Steel Cut returns to the Oklahoma-bred ranks for the $130,000 Distaff. The last time she faced such foes, she won a starter stakes on Classics Night in 2015. Steel Cut is coming off a third-place finish to Moment Is Right in the Flashy Lady at Remington.

◗ The $100,000 Juvenile has lured a field of 10 led by impressive debut winner Taxman’s Quest. Bryan McNeil has the mount for trainer Roger Engel.

◗ Claire’s Music will break from the rail in the $100,000 Lassie, a six-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies that drew 10. Jareth Loveberry has the mount on the impressive debut winner for Trout.

First post is 7 p.m. Central.