Zee Oh Six gets surface switch

Zee Oh Six would cap a meaningful week for trainer Joe Lucas with a win in Saturday night's $40,000 Governor's Cup at Remington Park in Oklahoma City.

Lucas played a prominent role in helping racetracks in Oklahoma win passage for electronic gaming, and on Monday a casino opened at Remington. He was the first person allowed to play the machines, which helped attract an ontrack crowd of 5,142 on Monday.

"I started with 10 dollars and played for a few minutes," he said. "I got up to 41 dollars and cashed out a winner. The money goes to the Oklahoma horseracing industry and to the state's education system, so everyone benefits."

Zee Oh Six will be moving back to dirt, where he is unbeaten this meet, for the Governor's Cup. The mile and 70-yard race drew a field of 10 horses. Other top contenders include Runaway Choice, Notable Okie, and Free Thinking.

Zee Oh Six opened his Remington meet with a win in the $40,000 Silver Goblin for Oklahoma-breds on Aug. 20. He returned in his next start to defeat a stout group of older horses in an allowance Sept. 2, then won the $75,000 Oklahoma Classics Day Classic on Sept. 24.

In his only other start at the meet, Zee Oh Six ran on turf and finished ninth in the $50,000 Remington Green on Oct. 21. Since then, he has worked consecutive bullets, going five furlongs in 58.40 seconds Nov. 11, and the same distance in 59 seconds on Nov. 19.

Lone Star: $1M Quarter Horse race

PYC Paint Your Wagon, Automatically, and Brindis Por Cayenne bring different qualifications into Saturday night's Grade 1, $1 million Texas Classic Futurity for Quarter Horses at Lone Star Park near Dallas.

PYC Paint Your Wagon set the fastest qualifying time for the 400-yard Texas Classic on Nov. 12, winning one of 13 trials in 19.80 seconds. He is also the highest earner in the field with a bankroll of $170,142.

Automatically is undefeated and ran the third-fastest qualifying time for the Texas Classic, overcoming trouble at the start to win his trial in 19.88.

"He didn't get away too good," said rider Gilbert Ortiz.

Brindis Por Cayenne is well drawn in gate 8, breaking outside of both Automatically (gate 1) and PYC Paint Your Wagon (gate 2.) Earlier this year, Brindis Por Cayenne ran third in racing's most prestigious race for 2-year-old Quarter Horses, the $1.9 million All-American Futurity.

The Texas Classic Futurity goes as race 12.