Cox To Send Out Hit Show In Bid For Fourth Oklahoma Derby Win
Thirteen 3-year-olds drew into the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby (G3), the headline event of 10 races at Remington Park on a special Sunday, Sept. 24 program that also includes the Remington Park Oaks (G3) and six other stakes.
The field is the largest for the Oklahoma Derby since 14 started in the 1 1/8-mile race in 2014.
Hit Show has been made the morning-line favorite at 3-1 odds and will leave the gate from the outside post 13. Trained by Brad Cox, Flavien Prat will ride.
Cox is seeking his fourth win in the Oklahoma Derby. He won three straight from 2019-2021 with Owendale, Shared Sense, and Warrant, respectively. Prat seeks his first win in the race.
Owned and bred by Gary and Mary West of Omaha, Neb., Hit Show won the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct on Feb. 11 before running second in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in April. He eventually finished fifth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and then fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. Hit Show most recently was fifth in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes in July at Saratoga in upstate New York.
West Virginia Derby (G3) winner Red Route One is the second choice on the morning-line at 7-2 odds. Trained by Steve Asmussen, he will be guided by Joel Rosario. The colt by Gun Runner, owned and bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds, was second in the Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park in February. Red Route One was fourth in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and then eighth in the Belmont Stakes (G1) before scoring in West Virginia.
Red Route One competed in the Dueling Grounds Derby (G3) at Kentucky Downs at 1 5/16 miles over turf on Sept. 3, finishing eighth in his most recent start.
Asmussen seeks his second Oklahoma Derby victory, winning previously in 2017 with Untrapped. Rosario has won the race twice before with Pleasant Prince (2010) and Warrant (2021).
The field for the Oklahoma Derby in post-position order, with (jockey, trainer) and morning-line odds:
1. Ghost Hero (Floyd Wethey Jr., Jayde Gelner) 20-1
2. Tumbarumba (Rafael Bejarano, Brian Lynch) 6-1
3. Raise Cain (no jockey named, Ben Colebrook) 5-1
4. Cagliostro (Cristian Torres, Cherie DeVaux) 8-1
5. Heroic Move (Harry Hernandez, Robertino Diodoro) 20-1
6. Gunflash (Luis Fuentes, Karl Broberg) 30-1
7. West Coast Cowboy (Tyler Conner, Saffie Joseph Jr.) 8-1
8. Pearl's Earl (Jose Medina, Eric Snodgrass) 99-1
9. How Did He Do That (Stewart Elliott, Steve Asmussen) 20-1
10. Red Route One (Joel Rosario, Steve Asmussen) 7-2
11. Grove Land (no jockey named, Eoin Harty) 15-1
12. Mor Lana Spirit (Leandro Goncalves, Kari Craddock) 30-1
13. Hit Show (Flavien Prat, Brad Cox) 3-1 (morning-line favorite)
The Oklahoma Derby is the 10th and grand finale on the Sept. 24 card with a scheduled post of 7:48 p.m. (CT)
The post Cox To Send Out Hit Show In Bid For Fourth Oklahoma Derby Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
