Valiant Tiberias must not beat himself in Leo Stakes

When he minds his manners, Valiant Tiberias is capable of outstanding performances. In the last year, Valiant Tiberias has won four stakes, but has been disqualified in two other stakes for running erratically.

Valiant Tiberias will have his second start of the Remington Park winter-spring Quarter Horse meeting Saturday in the $68,000 Leo Stakes at 400 yards, a prep for the $212,500 Debbie Schauf Invitational on May 31.

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In the $71,528 Oklahoma Challenge Championship on March 29 at Remington Park, Valiant Tiberias finished third as the 7-10 favorite, but was demoted to ninth for drifting to the inside. A similar incident occurred in the $1.5 million All American Derby at Ruidoso Downs last September when Valiant Tiberias was disqualified from third to eighth for bumping a rival.

“We’ve got to run lights out and can’t make mistakes,” trainer Wes Giles said Thursday.

Valiant Tiberias will have a new rider on Saturday. Alan Hernandez was named when entries were taken Wednesday, but Giles said he was later told Hernandez cannot take the mount because the jockey has not been based at Remington Park during the coronavirus outbreak. A track official confirmed Thursday that riders not based at Remington Park cannot ride at the Oklahoma City track.

Mario Delgado will have the mount, Giles said. Through Wednesday, Delgado was tied for 10th in the jockey standings at the meeting with 10 wins.

“The kid has never been on him,” Giles said. “I’m not real happy.”

Hernandez rode Valiant Tiberias to a second-place finish in the $200,000 Zia Park Championship on Dec. 1. Four weeks later, James Flores rode Valiant Tiberias to a win in the $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park.

Valiant Tiberias broke from post 10 in the Oklahoma Challenge Championship and starts from post 3 in the 12-runner Leo Stakes.

The Leo Stakes is the ninth race on a 10-race program that begins at 7 p.m. Eastern. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Mi Amor Secreto, second in the $600,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos in December, may go favored. He won his 2020 debut in the Oklahoma Challenge Championship.

There will be support for Apocalyptical Jess, the champion 3-year-old of 2019 who was an uncharacteristic eighth in the Sooner State Stakes in his 2020 debut on April 18.