NEWS
REMINGTON PARK HANDLE INCREASES, RECORD PURSES PAID Remington Park completed its 2015 Thoroughbred season on December 13 with a photo finish deciding the $250,000 Springboard Mile, the final race of the year. The win, by a nose, went to Discreetness in a thriller over Suddenbreakingnews. The statistical finish for Remington Park did not have to go to a photo as total handle and purses easily defeated the 2014 numbers.
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to his Oklahoma Derby and Classics Cup scores by Cliff Berry. Jockey Luis Quinonez had the helm for his allowance win at the beginning of the season. A gelding by Kodiak Kowboy, Shotgun Kowboy is now pointed to a 4-year-old campaign in the handicap division series at Oaklawn. In the only other unanimous vote, My Master Plan was the selection on all ballots for Champion 2-Year-Old Female. She completed a perfect season at Remington Park with four wins, including the E.L. Gaylord Memorial and Trapeze stakes. Owned and bred by Joyce and Dan McGough of Granbury, Texas, My Master Plan is trained by Donnie Von Hemel. She was bred in Texas and sired by Oklahoma stallion Oratory. Despite missing the victory in the season’s biggest 2-year-old race, Suddenbreakingnews got the nod in the voting for Champion 2-Year-Old Male. Owned by Samuel Henderson of Odessa, Texas, and also trained by Von Hemel, Suddenbreakingnews lost the $250,000 Springboard Mile by a nose to Discreetness. His victory in the $100,000 Clever Trevor Stakes in November proved to be the edge in winning the vote. Grade 1 winner Include Betty made one start during the season but made enough of an impression in winning the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks to gain the honor as Champion 3-Year-Old Female. Owned by the partnership of Brereton Jones and Timothy Thornton, Include Betty won the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn in April and then the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park in June before finding her way to Oklahoma City. Trained by Tom Proctor, Include Betty was handled by Drayden Van Dyke in the Remington Park Oaks. Sweeping the top sprint races of the season, Ivan Fallunovalot won the vote for Champion Sprinter and Champion Older Male for his perfect two-for-two record in Oklahoma City. Owned by Lewis Mathews Jr. of Bismarck, Arkansas, and trained by Tom Howard, Ivan Fallunovalot had the services of Hall of Fame Jockey Calvin Borel in winning both the $75,000 David M. Vance Sprint Stakes in August and the $150,000 Remington Park Sprint Cup in September. Bred in Texas by Eileen Hartis, Ivan Fallunovalot used the Remington Park races to ready for an appearance in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at the end of October. The 5-year-old gelded son of Valid Expectations was in contention until early stretch in that race before fading. Zeta Zody earned top Champion Older Female honors thanks to a victory in an open-company allowance race for older females, followed by a pair of Oklahoma-bred stakes wins on the lawn. Triumphant in the Bob Barry Memorial Stakes in August and the Oklahoma Classics Distaff Turf in October, the daughter of Omega Code enjoyed her best season yet at Remington Park. Zeta Zody, now 5, is owned by Al and Bull Ulwelling of Elk River, Minnesota, and is trained by Michael Biehler. She was bred by Robert Zoellner. Victories in the season’s top two grass events made Cougar Ridge the Champion Turf Performer. Owned by Richard Bahde of Omaha, Nebraska, and trained by Randy Morse, Cougar Ridge won the Edward J. DeBartolo Memorial Handicap in August and the Remington Green Stakes in September. Jockey C.J. McMahon was up for both scores. A winner in four of five starts during the Remington meet, Treacherous won the voting for Champion Claimer. The gelding, now 7, raced for trainer Karl Broberg and owner End Zone Athletics.
A total of $62,475,502 was played during the 67-date season, up $5,564,642 over the 2014 numbers, for an increase of 9.8 percent. The average daily handle on Remington Park racing was $932,470. This is the third consecutive year that the Remington Park Thoroughbred season has increased its total handle. The boost was due to more interest by fans and players wagering on Remington Park via simulcast. The export handle on the races from Oklahoma City was $57,966,038, up $6,166,612, or 11.9 percent, compared to 2014 figures. “We are thrilled by the wagering response for Remington Park in 2015,” said Matt Vance, vice president of operations. “We tried 50-cent minimum wagers on a regular basis for the first time in our history, and they were wellreceived. The Pick 5 came along late in the season but was also welcomed by our players. We expect these offerings, especially the Pick 5 and the Pick 4, to continue their popularity going forward.” Remington Park, celebrating the 10th full year of offering casino gaming as part of its entertainment package, distributed record purses for the 2015 Thoroughbred season. A total of $16,896,014 was paid to horsemen, up 11.3 percent compared to the 2014 season. The daily average purses paid were $252,176, also a record for Remington Park. The daily average purses in 2014 were $226,576. The 2014 Remington Park Thoroughbred season was also 67 days in length. There were 607 races conducted both seasons. A total of 5,489 starters took part in 2015 for an average field size per race of 9.0, down slightly from 9.4 per race in 2014. On-track wagering at Remington Park was $4,185,321, down $543,720, or 11.5 percent, compared to 2014. Wagering at Remington Park’s three off-track sites around Oklahoma City was $324,143, down $58,250 from the 2014 mark. Live racing is now on hiatus at Remington Park. The American Quarter Horse season runs 50 dates from March 11 through June 4. The 67-date Thoroughbred season will be contested from August 12 through December 11. CALDWELL, BROBERG, MCMAHON AND VAZQUEZ TOP REMINGTON STANDINGS When the Remington Park Thoroughbred season concluded December 13, the leading horsemen titles were filled with both familiar and new faces. Exercising great skill at claiming horses, owner Danny Caldwell of Poteau, Oklahoma, earned his sixth consecutive title as Remington Park’s leading Thoroughbred owner. He ended the season with a record 49 wins. Caldwell won the Ran Ricks Jr. Trophy, named in honor of the first owner with horses on the grounds at Remington Park and a multiple leading owner in the track’s early years. This is the seventh overall Ricks Trophy for Caldwell, who won his first in 2008 and then every season since 2010. Caldwell also led in owner earnings with $856,635. Much like Caldwell, trainer Karl Broberg is extremely active with claiming horses. His operation had its most productive season since he arrived at Remington Park a few years ago. Broberg racked up 62 wins from 233 starters, scoring at a 27 percent clip while utilizing jockey C.J. McMahon as his first-call rider. As leading trainer, Broberg won the Chuck Taliaferro Memorial Trophy, named in honor of one of the initial leading trainers at Remington Park in the track’s formative years. Broberg becomes the first trainer other than Steve Asmussen to win the Taliaferro Trophy since Donnie Von Hemel in 2006. Speaking of Von Hemel, he led the training standings by earnings with his starters earning $965,969 on the season. The Pat Steinberg Trophy for leading jockey had to be duplicated for 2015 as for the first time in Remington Park Thoroughbred season history there was a tie in the jockey standings.
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