Welder to try turf in Remington Park Turf Sprint

Welder has won 15 stakes races, earned more than $1 million, and is the only two-time horse of the meet in the history of Remington Park.

But he still will be charting new territory Friday night in the track’s $70,000 Remington Park Turf Sprint.

It will be the first start on the grass for Welder, a 7-year-old son of The Visualiser.

“We tried to run him on the grass before,” said Theresa Luneack, who trains Welder for Ra-Max Farms. “We’ve always gotten rained off. This is another shot for us.”

The Turf Sprint is one of three stakes on the card, all restricted to horses bred in Oklahoma. The races are designed to produce starters for the Oklahoma Classics program Oct. 16 at Remington.

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The card next month is a goal for Welder, who is a two-time winner of the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint. But the first order of business comes Friday, Luneack said. Welder, the 2018 winner of the Remington Park Turf Sprint when it was moved to the main track, gets pedigree support for the grass test Friday.

Luneack said some turf influence comes from Giant’s Causeway, the sire of The Visualiser. In addition, Welder is a half-brother to two-time turf winner Dance Floor Maniac.

Luneack said another appeal of the Turf Sprint was the chance to race with Oklahoma-breds. This is the time of year Welder usually lines up against open company for the $150,000 David M. Vance at Remington – a race he’s won each the past two years – but he is skipping the renewal on Sunday. The purse will be $60,000 in a reduction due to the pandemic shutting down the casino earlier this year at Remington.

“In the Turf Sprint we’re actually running for more money, and running with Oklahoma-breds,” Luneack said. “It was a no-brainer.”

Welder exits a second in the Iowa Sprint on July 5 at Prairie Meadows. He shows a strong series of recent works at Remington, where he has won 11 races from 16 starts. Last year, Welder went 4 for 5 at the meet while winning three stakes, and in 2018 he won four stakes in his four appearances at Remington.

“The great thing about this year is we don’t have any expectations,” Luneack said. “He’s done everything we wanted him to do, broke that million-dollar mark. That was a huge milestone. Once he accomplished that, everything else after that is just gravy. We’re looking forward to keeping him happy, keeping him sound, and racing.”

David Cabrera, who is 11 for 15 on Welder, has the mount from post 5. The field of eight also includes Shannon C, son of the multiple stakes-winning mare Miranda Diane.

The first stakes on the card is the $70,000 Red Earth, which is a rematch of the top three finishers from last year’s running – Timely Reply, Quality Rocket, and Hallelujah Hit. The 7 1/2-furlong turf race also drew half-siblings Tenspeed and Sedaris.

The $70,000 Bob Barry Memorial for fillies and mares at 7 1/2 furlongs on the grass drew Alternative Slew and Hawaiian Typhoon – the one-two finishers from last year – and three-time stakes winner Lady Orchid.

◗ Boyd Gaming, parent company of Delta Downs , has committed $1.5 million to assist its employees and other residents of southwest Louisiana impacted by Hurricane Laura.

◗ Remington was to begin taking main-track-only entries Wednesday for Sunday. The track had not taken such entries dating back to 2019.