Zia Park: Von Hemel chasing Oaks with Gold Medal Dancer, I Am Miss Brown

Trainer Donnie Von Hemel will send out two capable starters in the $300,000 Zia Park Oaks, a 1 1/16-mile race that will have its inaugural running Sunday.

Gold Medal Dancer and I Am Miss Brown are making the trip from Remington Park in Oklahoma City to Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M., in part because the race is a rare late-in-the-year opportunity to run against 3-year-olds only, Von Hemel said.

“We’re going to go out and see what we can get done,” Von Hemel said from his Remington base Monday. “Both fillies are doing well. They leave here Thursday morning. They’ll have a couple of days over the track there and run on Sunday.”

I Am Miss Brown enters off an allowance win Oct. 19, while Gold Medal Dancer missed by a nose in the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks in her last start Sept. 29. Terry Thompson has the mount on I Am Miss Brown, while Luis Quinonez will be aboard Gold Medal Dancer.

Others set to start include Southern California invaders Unusual Way and Oscar Party. The fillies were scheduled to fly into El Paso, Texas, on Thursday, then van into Hobbs, according to officials with Zia.

The Oaks is the richest race on a card of five stakes worth $845,000. The program also features the $200,000 Zia Park Derby led by Broadway Empire. The Oaks will be broadcast on both HRTV and the radio network HRRN. There will be a pick four linking four of the afternoon’s stakes: the $55,000 Distaff, the Oaks, the derby, and the $150,000 Distance Championship.