Wildcat Red among full field of 14 for Remington Derby
Wildcat Red will have a good deal of company in the starting gate on Sunday when he seeks his third graded stakes win of the year in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park. He drew post 5 in a full field of 14, with one runner excluded when entries for the 1 1/8- mile race were taken on Thursday.
The Oklahoma Derby is the richest race of the meet, and it is being showcased on a special afternoon program that begins at 1:30 p.m. Central. It is supported by six other stakes, including the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks that drew the Grade 1-placed America and the $150,000 Remington Park Sprint Championship, led by Heitai. The races are worth a cumulative $1 million.
Wildcat Red won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 3 Hutcheson earlier this year at Gulfstream Park. He enters the Oklahoma Derby off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga. Edgard Zayas, runaway leader in the rider standings at Gulfstream, has the mount for trainer Jose Garoffalo.
Charge Now, like Wildcat Red, also exits a Grade 1 at Saratoga, having finished seventh in the Travers. Prior to that start, he was second in the track’s $100,000 Curlin. Junior Alvarado has the mount for trainer Bill Mott. Charge Now and Away Game, a multiple allowance winner for trainer Rick Violette, were both scheduled to fly into Oklahoma City from New York on Thursday.
Tonito M., the third-place finisher in the Los Alamitos Mile who invades for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, arrived at Remington on Thursday morning. The horse flew into Dallas, then traveled about three horses to Oklahoma City. Rafael Bejarano has the mount Sunday.
The complete Oklahoma Derby field from the rail with riders is: Away Game, Mike Luzzi; Rebranded, Elvin Gonzalez; Street Prancer, Rosie Napravnik; Edison, Rico Walcott; Wildcat Red, Zayas; Bay of Biscay, Jorge Carreno; Tonito M., Bejarano; Even Echo, Shane Laviolette; Charge Now, Alvarado; Ibaka, Lindey Wade; Declan’s Fast Cat, Gerard Melancon; Louies Flower, Luis Quinonez; Tulum, Cliff Berry; and For Goodness Sake, Brian Hernandez Jr.
Even Echo is cross-entered in a Remington allowance Thursday night. Brother Stachys, a maiden winner, was excluded from the Oklahoma Derby. The maximum gate for the race is 14. Post for the Oklahoma Derby, which will go as the eighth on a 10-race program, is 4:46 p.m. Central.
The stakes action starts in the fourth race with the $75,000 Kip Deville for 2-year-olds, a race designed as the first local prep for the track’s $250,000 Springboard Mile in December.
From there, the $100,000 Remington Green that drew last year’s Oklahoma Derby winner, Broadway Empire, goes as the fifth. The sixth is the $50,000 Flashy Lady for filly and mare sprinters, while the seventh is the $50,000 Ladies on the Lawn, which lured a field of 12 fillies and mares bred in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Derby follows as the eighth race. The $200,000 Remington Park Oaks and $150,000 Remington Park Sprint Championship close out the card as the respective ninth and 10th races on Sunday.
The forecast is for mostly sunny skies and a high of 86 degrees, according to The Weather Channel.