Shotgun Kowboy rooting for rain in Red Earth
Shotgun Kowboy will make his 3-year-old debut Friday night at Remington Park if the rains forecast for Oklahoma City are enough to move the $50,000 Red Earth Stakes from turf to dirt. Shotgun Kowboy, as well as fellow stakes winner Johnny Whip, are entered for the main track only in the 13-horse Red Earth. The 7 1/2-furlong race is for 3-year-olds and up bred in Oklahoma.
Shotgun Kowboy won 3 of 5 starts last year at Remington, including the $106,000 Clever Trevor and the $85,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile. He will likely go favored if he runs as the Oklahoma Derby candidate also boasts a sharp series of works for breeder, owner, and trainer C.R. Trout.
In the event Shotgun Kowboy stays in the barn, Perfect to Please could vie for favoritism with Sooner Superstar, the two-time defending champ in the Red Earth. Perfect to Please is coming off an optional $30,000 claiming win over open company at Lone Star Park.
Red Earth, Race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Perfect to Please (Last 3 Beyers: 90-81-50)
He ran a powerful race at Lone Star, when he covered a mile on firm turf in a quick 1:33.60. Since the July 16 start, Steelman Run, who was third to Perfect to Please, has come back to run second in the $100,000 Arapahoe Park Classic. In addition, Unbridled Giant, who was second to Perfect to Please, is a top contender in a Friday allowance at Louisiana Downs.
Bryan McNeil, who won the riding title at Will Rogers Downs, has the mount on Perfect to Please for owner Elada Kirk and trainer Veronica Griggs.
Sooner Superstar (Last 3 Beyers: 79-70-64)
The lone female in the Red Earth, she’s making a tradition out of defeating males in what is annually one of the first stakes of the meet at Remington. Sooner Superstar was a three-quarter length winner of last year’s Red Earth and she scored by a neck in 2013.
Sooner Superstar is returning to the Oklahoma-bred ranks after running third in an optional $40,000 claiming race July 19 at Lone Star. She contested the pace in the one-mile turf feature that went in a quick 1:34.20.
Ken Tohill has the mount for trainer Marti Rodriguez.