Lucarelli has 32 stalls at Remington; will have small string at Oaklawn
Trainer Frank Lucarelli, who moved a division of horses to Texas in January, will continue to have a presence in the region for the foreseeable future.
He said Tuesday he will be moving horses to Remington Park in Oklahoma following the close of the Lone Star Park meet Sunday, and also anticipates having a small string at the Oaklawn meet in Arkansas that opens Dec. 3.
Lucarelli is the all-time winningest trainer at Emerald Downs in Washington, and he will continue to race at that track and in California. He branched out to Sam Houston in January and remained in Texas for Lone Star. Lucarelli has 32 stalls for the Remington meet that opens Aug. 20.
“Texas has always been interesting to me,” Lucarelli said. “I know several people who moved to Texas and loved it there. I thought it might work out. I brought 20 to Sam Houston and was very happy with the whole program, and the track, and now we’re wrapping up with Lone Star.
“My plan is to go back to Sam Houston. I think I’ll try to hang on that circuit. Washington is my home, and we’ll continue to support what we’re doing here.”
Lucarelli on Tuesday also talked to Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope about the prospect of having a string of five or six horses at the meet.
Lucarelli, who ranks eighth in the standing at Lone Star, had a training double at the track Monday.
The 64-year-old started working on the racetrack as a teenager during summer vacation. He was introduced to the sport by his father, who had an ownership stake in a horse. Later in life, Lucarelli established himself as a baseball player of note.
“I played a couple of years, never played out of the minors,” Lucarelli said. “I was a pitcher. I threw a perfect game in college. I played a couple of years in the minor leagues. I was released in Bakersfield, Calif., in August 1979 and a week later I had my trainer’s license.”
Lucarelli won his first race in September 1979 and had a total of 1,933 wins through Tuesday.
“When I was 14, I said, ‘I’m going to play ball as long as I can, then I’m going to train horses,’ ” Lucarelli recalled. “I love the game. I’ve been training now 41 years. I love the races. My wife said, ‘Maybe we could go to Hawaii for a week,’ and I said, ‘They don’t have a racetrack in Hawaii.’ ”
Instead, the couple will be spending their summer on the West Coast and in the Southwest.
Rainbow trials at Ruidoso
Ruidoso Downs will be running trials for various stakes races from Friday through Sunday.
The track will put on 28 trials for the Grade 1, $1 million Rainbow Futurity between Friday and Saturday. There will be 14 trials each card. The horses with the five fastest times from each day will advance to the finale on July 25.
Ruidoso on Sunday will put on eight trials for the Grade 1, $1 million Rainbow Derby, which will be run July 24. The Sunday card also includes five trials for the $250,000 Rainbow Oaks on July 24.
◗ Lone Star’s meet has had 204 claims for $1.9 million in transactions among stables through Wednesday.