Welder to run one final time on Oklahoma Classics Night

Welder was 49-1 when he made his career debut in 2015 at Remington Park.

He’s outrun those odds in more ways than one, finishing second in that November sprint and going on to become one of the most decorated horses in the history of Oklahoma racing.

It’s been the ride of a lifetime for owners Clayton and Toni Rash of Ra-Max Farms and trainer Theresa Luneack, but it will come to an end Friday night after Welder runs in the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint for the fourth consecutive time.

The Sprint is one of the card’s eight Oklahoma-bred stakes worth a cumulative $1 million. It is the second-richest program of the meet at Remington, where Welder ranks as the track’s all-time winningest horse with 16 victories. It seems like an appropriate occasion and place to hang up the racing plates of the only three-time Oklahoma-bred of the year.

“I just think it’s time,” Luneack said. “He doesn’t have anything else to prove. We don’t want to run him just to run. I want him to go out on top, as a stakes horse. We want him to retire a sound, sane, happy horse, and figured the Classics is a good way to end it. He’s an 8-year-old. What else does he have to prove?”

Welder, a gelding who has earned $1.2 million while winning 27 of 43 starts, is part of a field of eight horses in the Sprint. The six-furlong stakes will go as the third race. Welder will break from post 8 under longtime regular rider David Cabrera.

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“There’s quite a bit of speed,” Luneack said. “Hopefully, he can kind of just sit off the pace a little bit. The outside post is just wonderful for us. I felt like that was a stroke of luck.”

Welder won an allowance over open company on Aug. 27 at Remington. In his last start Sept. 26, he was fifth in the $150,000 David M. Vance, a race he has won two prior times at Remington.

“The last race he false broke,” Luneack said. “He hit the front of the gate then kind of got mad, David said. He didn’t break the greatest. Welder is not a huge fan of traffic – he does a lot of his running out in the open – and he was pinned in behind horses. That’s racing.”

Luneack said it will be emotional saddling Welder for his final career start Friday.

“It’s a long era,” she said. “This horse has been in my life for a long time. I kind of started my training career with Welder. It will be emotional. Doing right by the horse is the most important thing to me. I want to make sure he has the best opportunity to go on and do something.”

Luneack said Welder will be let down following the Sprint and will eventually be a stable pony. He will assist with Ra-Max horses, including ponying some to post at the races. Luneack said Welder’s new duties will likely start this spring at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., where he went 10 for 11 and won five runnings of the TRAO Classic Sprint.

The Sprint also includes Shannon C, winner of the recent Remington Park Turf Sprint.

Dont Tell Noobody needs pace

Dont Tell Noobody is seeking to win the $175,000 Oklahoma Classics Cup for the second year in a row, and owner Danny Caldwell is hoping the closer will get the right setup.

The Classics Cup is a 1 1/16-mile race that drew six horses, including multiple stakes winner Number One Dude and the sharp Absaroka.

Dont Tell Noobody enters this year’s renewal off a pair of allowance starts at Remington. He finished third in each, his latest race Sept. 23. Dont Tell Noobody rallied behind wire-to-wire winner Absaroka. The starts were the horse’s first since April.

“He came back out of the last race feeling really good,” Caldwell said. “Normally, third race off a layoff is the one they run best. Hopefully, that’s the case. Getting him the extra sixteenth should help. He can lay back and run his normal running style.”

Caldwell is hoping Absaroka will have some company on the front end, perhaps from newcomer Number One Dude. The 3-year-old is meeting older horses for the first time and stretching out to two turns off a stakes win over seven-eighths of a mile on Sept. 10 at Remington.

“Hopefully, we get some pace to run at,” Caldwell said. “It’s not an easy field and you’ve got to have some racing luck to win these kinds of races.”

Dont Tell Noobody will break from post 3, with trainer Federico Villafranco giving the mount to Ramon Vazquez.

Caldwell is the all-time winningest owner at Remington. He said Oklahoma Classics Night is a target for his stable that includes 15 Oklahoma-breds.

“We’ve got six in the Classics this year, including the starter stakes,” Caldwell said. “It’s a big night for us. We try to be prepared for Classics Night.”

Caldwell’s first stakes starter comes in the $100,000 Lassie with Circle Back Girl. The race is for 2-year-old fillies over six furlongs. Circle Back Girl will break from the rail in the 11-horse field led by Hits Pricey Legacy.

“We drew the one hole, which I’m not real fond of,” Caldwell said. “I think that filly will run good if she can get a good trip.”

Circle Back Girl was a maiden winner over fellow Oklahoma-breds on Sept. 17 at Remington.

Hits Pricey Legacy is moving back into the Oklahoma-bred ranks after running second in the E.L. Gaylord Memorial on Sept. 26 at Remington.

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The Lassie also drew the Antonio Sano trainee Freccia d’Argento, who is coming off a maiden win at Gulfstream Park.

Caldwell has another 2-year-old stakes starter in the $100,000 Juvenile. Heza Freak will break from post 13 in the field led by Cuatro Madres and Rowdy Rascal.

Heza Freak will add blinkers after finishing fifth to Rowdy Rascal in a maiden race Sept. 18 at Remington.

“We put blinkers on him the last few works and he seems to be waking up a little bit,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell’s final stakes starter is Machos Vision in the $130,000 Distaff Sprint.

“That little filly is gutsy,” he said. “I think it’s a pretty evenly matched race.”

◗ She’s All Wolfe will attempt to win her second straight $130,000 Distaff.

◗ Alternative Slew seeks her third consecutive win in the $130,000 Distaff Turf.

◗ Quality Rocket seeks his second straight win in the $130,000 Turf.