Shotgun Kowboy may head to California for winter

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Derby winner Shotgun Kowboy could spend the winter at Santa Anita. C.R. Trout, who bred, owns, and trains the horse, said Monday he is considering taking four or five horses to Southern California, depending on how the remainder of the Remington Park meet goes for Shotgun Kowboy and the stakes-winning 2-year-old Bring It On Dude.

Shotgun Kowboy ran the race of his career Sunday in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby, setting a pressured pace and fighting off Desert Dynamo for a half-length win. For his effort, Shotgun Kowboy earned a career-high 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

On Monday, Trout said Shotgun Kowboy emerged from the race in good order and will be pointed for the $175,000 Oklahoma Classics Cup. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up bred in Oklahoma will be run Oct. 16 at Remington.

The Oklahoma Derby win was particularly special for Trout, a 70-year-old native of Oklahoma.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “All my family and friends were here, and the announcer said it was the largest group in the winner’s circle in the history of Remington.”

Trout won three races on the Sunday card, including two stakes. Bring It On Dude took the $75,000 Kip Deville over Grade 3 Bashford Manor winner He’s Comin in Hot. Bring It On Dude will be pointed to the $100,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile at six furlongs Oct. 16, with a long-range goal of running in the $250,000 Springboard Mile on Dec. 13 at Remington, said Trout.

“I have no doubt he will stretch out,” he said.

Shotgun Kowboy finished second by a head last year in the Springboard Mile following wins in the Oklahoma Classics Juvenile and the $100,000 Clever Trevor, both at Remington. Shotgun Kowboy is a son of Kodiak Kowboy and is from the female family of Marysville Slew, a millionaire Trout raced.

Bring It On Dude is a Munnings colt from the female family of Trout homebred Shotgun Gulch. Shotgun Gulch was third in the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita in 2010 before giving Trout the most prestigious win of his career in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland in 2011.

◗ Remington handled $1,796,442 on its 10-race card Sunday, up 17 percent from the corresponding program in 2014, according to track spokesman Dale Day. Of the total handle, $1,528,369 was bet offsite, and $260,673 was bet ontrack. There were seven stakes on the card Sunday.