Mr. Pursuit takes Governor's Cup

Mr. Pursuit was unbeatable this meet at Remington Park. He won an allowance in September, the $275,000 Oklahoma Derby in October, then the $75,000 Governor's Cup on the track's closing night card Tuesday.

Mr. Pursuit ($4) won by 1 1/2 lengths over Sampson's Son, while it was another neck back in third to Real Dandy. The Governor's Cup was one of two stakes on the program, with Slew By Slew ($8.80) taking the $50,000 Centennial.

Mr. Pursuit settled off the pace set by Dragooner, who led the field through fractions of 22.96 for the opening quarter and 46.10 for the half-mile mark. Mr. Pursuit took the lead in the stretch, and went on to cover 1 1/16 miles over a good track in 1:43.72.

Cliff Berry rode Mr. Pursuit for trainer Joe Petalino.

Slew By Slew also came from off the pace in the Centennial, a one-mile race for 2-year-olds that was run over yielding turf. He sat about eight lengths off the pace set by Duh Nutts, made a steady gain under jockey Don Pettinger, and overtook the leaders in the stretch, covering the distance in 1:39.85.

With the win, Slew By Slew lifted his trainer, Donnie Von Hemel, to his 12th training title at Remington. Von Hemel won 40 races at the meet for a one-win advantage over second-leading trainer Scott Blasi. Von Hemel's runners earned a meet-best $1,047,475.

Berry picked up his 11th riding title at the track with 79 wins and meet-best mount earnings of $1,660,178. Gary Owens won the owner title with 29 wins, his fourth consecutive such title at Remington.