Plans pending for Oklahoma Derby winner Tonito M.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said plans for Tonito M., who won the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park, are to be determined. The horse returned to his Santa Anita base Tuesday. Tonito M. came into the Oklahoma Derby off a third-place finish in the Los Alamitos Mile.

“We’ll look for another race for him,” Hollendorfer said. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.”

Hollendorfer said he liked Tonito M.’s off-the-pace score under Rafael Bejarano.

“I thought that Rafael placed him very well, and he got a decent-enough pace to run at,” Hollendorfer said. “I guess he took to that track really well. This particular horse has been running against real good horses, and I was pleased Rafael was willing to [give up] Sunday at Santa Anita to ride the horse.”

Bejarano had ridden Tonito M. once before, in the Los Alamitos Mile.

Tonito M. began his career in Puerto Rico and shipped to Hollendorfer this past spring. The horse placed in three stakes for his new barn prior to winning the Oklahoma Derby.

“He ran a real good seven-eighths the first time that we ran him,” Hollendorfer said of a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Laz Barrera in May. “He’s been pretty consistent.”

Hollendorfer on Sunday also ran second in the Remington Park Oaks with Thegirlinthatsong. She was a private purchase following the Lone Star Park meet, and in her first start for Hollendorfer in August, she ran third in the Grade 3 Torrey Pines at Del Mar. The trainer said plans for her are to be determined. She returned to Santa Anita on Tuesday.