Pauline's Pearl should improve off last in longer Remington Oaks

Pauline’s Pearl will be making a meaningful distance move Sunday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks when she stretches out from seven furlongs to 1 1/16 miles.

“The distance suits her better,” said Steve Asmussen, who trains Pauline’s Pearl for Stonestreet Stables.

The Remington Park Oaks is one of eight stakes on the Oklahoma Derby Day card. The races are worth a cumulative $1.1 million. They are being showcased on a strong 12-race card that starts at 3 p.m. Central. It is the lone Sunday card of the meet at Remington.

The Remington Park Oaks drew seven fillies, including Grade 2 winner My Girl Red and the up-and-coming Lovely Ride.

Pauline’s Pearl won the Grade 3 Fantasy over 1 1/16 miles in April at Oaklawn Park in a performance that sent her to the Kentucky Oaks. In more recent times, she closed for second in the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks, a seven-furlong race run around two turns Aug. 27.

“It was less than her best distance,” Asmussen said. “She ran valiantly against the bias.”

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Pauline’s Pearl was then pointed to the Remington Park Oaks. Asmussen said the intent was to divide the quality 3-year-old fillies he has for Stonestreet, with Clairiere scheduled to run Saturday at Parx Racing in the Cotillion.

As for Pauline’s Pearl, Asmusssen said one of the Stonestreet homebred’s best assets has been her pedigree. She is a daughter of Tapit and the Grade 1-winning mare Hot Dixie Chick.

Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount from the rail Sunday.

Lovely Ride enters off the first stakes win of her career, having accounted for the $150,000 Cathryn Sophia on Aug. 24 at Parx. She is 4 for 6, but is a still-developing filly, according to trainer Bret Calhoun.

“She’s a filly that touts herself on a daily basis,” he said. “She puts a lot into her training and works and she seems to be just learning how to race herself. I know she’s won several races, but it seems like she’s still learning.

“In her last race at Parx, we didn’t want to be on the lead and she found herself there. She got relaxed to the point she went to sleep. When the rider wanted her to go, it took a few jumps for her to get started.”

Lovely Ride managed to eke out a half-length win in the Cathryn Sophia.

“She galloped out strong,” Calhoun said. “I still think she’s learning. She’s doing very, very well. I expect a big race out of her Sunday.”

Reylu Gutierrez has the mount from post 5 for Allied Racing Stable.

Greeley and Ben on long streak

Greeley and Ben will attempt to win his ninth consecutive race in the $150,000 David M. Vance. The race drew such quality foes as Welder, the all-time winningest horse at Remington, and Empire of Gold, who was a close fourth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Greeley and Ben has been unbeatable since April, when he won a $16,000 starter allowance at Oaklawn. He will be looking for his first stakes win Sunday after being claimed last March for $10,000.

“I found it odd that I didn’t shake for him that day at Oaklawn, where you have to shake on everything,” said Karl Broberg, who owns and trains Greeley and Ben. “The first time I ran him back I ran him for a tag and fortunately no one took him that day. He just continues to thrive.”

Greeley and Ben won the allowance prep for the David M. Vance on Sept. 4 at Remington, covering six furlongs in 1:08.80. The Beyer Speed Figure of 97 he earned for his eighth straight win was a career high and is the best last-race number in the Vance.

“For the most part I’ve kept him in the starter ranks and conditioned allowance races,” Broberg said. “I’ve done everything I can to avoid putting him in a race like this. He’s earned the shot.”

Broberg had a couple of reasons for claiming Greeley and Ben, a 7-year-old son of Greeley’s Conquest, who is a past winner of the Remington Park Sprint Cup.

“He’s an old back-class horse,” Broberg said. “He’s a big, good-looking thing and he’d run well in his previous efforts. It was a no-brain claim. You just hope with that back class, you hope to see him return to his former glory, which he has.”

Broberg won nine straight races with the filly Tight Britches back in 2013-14.

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“We’ve had some winning streaks die at six or seven,” he said. “It would be cool to keep this one going.”

Joe Talamo has the mount from post 8 in the nine-horse Vance.

Welder, 8, will be looking for his third win in the Vance, which he captured in 2018 and 2019.

◗ Spooky Channel will be looking for the sixth stakes win of his career in the $100,000 Remington Green, a 1 1/8-mile race in which he meets defending winner Sunlit Song and the capable Megacity and Spirit Animal.

◗ Tejano Twist heads the $75,000 Kip Deville, a six-furlong race for 2-year-olds. He comes off a runner-up finish in the $100,000 Rosie’s on Aug. 31 at Colonial. In the counterpart for 2-year-old fillies, Eagle Express brings the best credentials into the $50,000 E.L. Gaylord Memorial.

◗ Casual, a daughter of millionaire Lady Tak, seeks her first stakes win in the $50,000 Flashy Lady for fillies and mares at six furlongs. Others set to start include Canadian Ginger, a winner of her last three starts, and Cinnabunny, who exits a quick stakes at Parx.

◗ Valentines Day is part of a competitive cast of fillies and mares for the $75,000 Ricks Memorial, a 1 1/16-mile turf race. Curlin’s Journey, who won the Wasted Tears Stakes over some of these last out at Lone Star Park, also will get good support. The field also includes the promising Island Hideaway.