Remington Park: Conkigo will have to be caught in Turf Sprint

The $50,000 Remington Park Turf Sprint for Oklahoma-breds on Friday night is a simple read: Conkigo is the speed of the race. He established himself as such with a front-running win in the $49,000 allowance prep for the five-furlong stakes Aug. 24. It came one start after Conkigo wired open-company rivals in an optional $20,000 claiming sprint at Will Rogers Downs.

“He is best going to the front,” said Martin Lozano, who trains Conkigo for Gary Owens.

Conkigo is part of a nine-horse field for the Remington Park Turf Sprint, which is for 3-year-olds and up. The race drew a handful of other horses coming off front-running efforts, but their races were around two turns. Conkigo, meanwhile, exits a five-furlong turf allowance in which he set fractions of 21.40 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.20 for the half-mile before holding for a nose win over Steal Your Face, a stakes winner who returns Friday.

“He was pretty gutsy,” Lozano said of the allowance win. “There was another horse in there that hooked us for a half-mile. It almost cost us the race. He showed a lot of guts.”

The Remington Park Turf Sprint will be Conkigo’s second start since April 24, the date of his win in the optional $20,000 claimer at Will Rogers. Lozano is hopeful the horse will move forward Friday now that he has the benefit of last month’s allowance under his belt. He has given the mount to Martin Escobar, who rides from post 6.

Conkigo, in his final prep for the Remington Park Turf Sprint, breezed a half-mile in a near-bullet 47 seconds Sept. 6.

Steal Your Face rallied from sixth in the allowance prep when turning back in distance, and might be even sharper Friday in his second straight start at five furlongs. Cliff Berry has the mount for Rusty Roberts and trainer Roger Engel. Others set to start include Stickrossmountain, a stakes winner this spring at Will Rogers Downs, and Ti Township, a 17-time winner nearing career earnings of $350,000.