Will Rogers Downs opens 30-date meet on Monday

Thoroughbred racing resumes in Oklahoma on Monday after a nearly three-month break with the opening of the Will Rogers Downs meet in Claremore.

The 30-date season runs through May 19.

The last Thoroughbred action in Oklahoma was in mid-December at Remington Park. Many of the owners, trainers, and jockeys from that meet will be participating at Will Rogers, including Scott Young, who has won the last two training titles in Claremore.

Karl Broberg, a Remington regular who led all trainers in wins in North America in 2017, will have an increased presence this meet at Will Rogers, according to John Lies, the track’s racing secretary and announcer. Broberg was allotted 28 stalls, the maximum number given to trainers.

David Cabrera, who is one of the leading riders at Oaklawn Park, is named on a number of Broberg trainees Monday and Tuesday at Will Rogers. Floyd Wethey Jr., who won last year’s title in Claremore, is back for the new season, while the riding colony also includes past title winners Bryan McNeil and Curtis Kimes.

Danny Caldwell, a perennial leading owner at Remington and Oaklawn, said he will have some of his Oklahoma-bred runners based with Young at Will Rogers

Welder, a two-time horse of the meet at Will Rogers, is back for the new season, according to Lies.

Purses are projected to average $125,000 a program, the same as last year, Lies said. The track’s stakes schedule comprises eight races, all run on either Mondays or Tuesdays. The value of the stakes program is $430,000.

The first two stakes of the season, the $50,000 Miranda Diane for fillies and mares at six furlongs April 2 and the $50,000 Highland Ice for males at the same distance April 3, are the two open-company races on offer. The remainder of the stakes schedule is restricted to horses bred in Oklahoma.

Will Rogers will race three days a week, Lies said. The March schedule will be Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and the April and May schedule will be Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays. Post times will vary from 12:55 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. Central to avoid conflict with post times at other tracks, Lies said.

The feature Monday is an allowance sprint for fillies and mares, and top contenders include the stakes winner Another Bond Girl for trainer Brent Davidson and Event of Default for the trainer-jockey combo of Broberg and Cabrera.