The fifth time is apparently the charm as Shannon C finally got the best of Welder, who made the final start of his career, running third in the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint, presented by The Kaw Nation, on Friday night here.

“Shannon has been an iron horse from Day One,” said trainer Scott Young. “Today was his day. It took a while but he showed why his breeders, Bob and Ted (Smith), breed horses to Miranda Diane. It's come full circle now. He got that Oklahoma Classics win that we've been shooting for, for what? The past four years.”

It was Young's first trip to the winner's circle in an Oklahoma Classics race as well as jockey Leandro Goncalves. Welder broke well, but veered out to the outside after leaving the gate. Shannon C, a 6-year-old gelding by Latent Heat, out of the Fistfite mare Miranda Diane, is a horse that likes to shoot for the front, but did not show that speed Friday night. Goncalves was mystified that Shannon C wasn't on the early lead.

“He is one of the fastest horses out of the gate I've ever ridden, but not tonight,” said Goncalves. “So, I was waiting and when I asked him to run, he just took off and ran like he was the best horse today.”

“Leandro said he had to go to plan B (because of the slow break) and it worked,” Young said.

It was the second stakes win in a row to the versatile Shannon C. He had won the Remington Park Turf Sprint Stakes on Sept. 24. That was a 5-furlong sprint on the grass. Friday night's win was a 6-furlong sprint over the fast main track.

Welder's owner Ra-Max Farms (Clayton Rash of Claremore, Okla.), before the race had wished Young good luck.

“I'm glad if Welder had to lose it was to this horse,” said Rash. “It's OK. I said before the race that, win or lose, we would be retiring him and we'll stick to that.”

“We knew it was time and we wanted him to retire sound and safe,” said Welder's trainer Teri Luneack. “He has done everything we've ever asked of him and he didn't owe us a thing going into this race.”

Now it seems a horse that Welder had beaten by 4-3/4 lengths, 6-1/4 lengths, 6-1/2 lengths, and a neck, the last four times they faced each other may be the heir apparent as top Oklahoma-bred sprinter on the grounds. Welder had won this race the past three years in a row and was trying to tie Highland Ice and Okie Ride for four wins in this race.

Shannon C drew away impressively at the end, winning by three lengths at 5-1 odds. He paid $12.80, $6.40, and $3.20 across the board. Young trained horses ran 1-2 in the race as Mesa Moon (2-1) held off Welder by one length.

The remaining order of finish in the Classics Sprint was Euromantic (4th), Fast Breakin Cash (5th), No Lak of Speed (6th), Fly to the Bank (7th), and D Toz (8th).

Shannon C earned $78,000 for the win and improved to 27 starts, seven wins, 11 seconds, and two thirds for $368,766 in earnings. He chased early fractions set by Fly to the Bank of :22.15 for the first quarter-mile, :45.30 for the half-mile, :57.68 for five-eighths of a mile, and a final time of 1:10.12. He was bred by B and S Racing of Springfield, Mo., the owner.

The Sprint was the first win in the Oklahoma Classics for all of the connections.

Welder was sent off as the wagering favorite at 4-5 odds in his final race. He finishes his career with 16 wins at Remington Park and a final record of 44 starts, 27 wins, five seconds, and seven thirds for $1,265,031 in earnings. He holds records at Remington Park as the only three-time Horse of the Meet, the six-furlong sprint record of 1:08.13 in the 2019 David M. Vance Stakes, three-time Oklahoma Horse of the Year, the only horse to win four stakes races in one meet at Remington Park, and a record 11 stakes wins in a row here.

The Oklahoma Classics is a $1,000,000 series of stakes races devoted to Oklahoma-bred Thoroughbreds.

Remington Park racing continues Saturday, Oct. 16 with the first race at 7:07 pm Central.

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Owner Clayton Rash of Claremore, Okla., and trainer Teri Luneack have indicated that when this millionaire Oklahoma-bred 8-year-old gelding goes to post on Friday, Oct. 15 in the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint, sponsored by The Kaw Nation, that it will likely be his final race. The sprint is all part of the night of Oklahoma-bred stars competing in divisional stakes events for $1 million-plus in purse money at the Oklahoma City, Okla., track.

If Welder, a gelded son of The Visualiser, out of the Tiznow mare Dance Softly, wins Friday night it will be his fourth consecutive victory in the Sprint, and it would tie for most wins in this stakes race with Okie Ride and Highland Ice. Highland Ice won four in a row from 1996-1999. Okie Ride won in 2011 and 2012, missed two years, and then returned to the winner's circle in 2015 and 2016.

Welder has won 16 races at Remington Park, more than any other horse since 1988 when the track opened. He was purchased from Mighty Acres Farms in Pryor, Okla., for $6,750 as a yearling and has earned $1,250,731. His record is 43 starts, 27 wins, five seconds, and six thirds. At Remington Park, he has won 16 of 22 times for $876,712.

“I really like his draw (outside 8-post),” said Luneack. “I would like Welder to be remembered as the working man's horse. He made his million the hard way.”

Among other records Welder, the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the race, has set in his career here are:

The only horse to win Remington Park Horse of the Meet more than once. He has received awards as Horse of the Meet in 2018, 2019, and 2020

Three-time Oklahoma Horse of the Year in those same years

Set track record at Remington for 6 furlongs in 1:08.13 in the David M. Vance Stakes on Sept. 29, 2019

Holds record here for most stakes wins in a row – 11. He won two Remington Park Turf Sprints (one on a muddy main track), four wins in the Silver Goblin Stakes, three wins in the Oklahoma Classics Sprint, and two wins in the David M. Vance Stakes.

This year's edition of the Sprint drew eight horses and every horse in the race has been beaten by Welder at least once. Welder was bred in Oklahoma by Center Hills Farm. Mighty Acres is a subsidiary for them.

Mesa Moon (9-2) has been made the second favorite in the race. He is a non-stakes winner and finished behind fourth morning-line favorite Shannon C (6-1) in the Remington Park Turf Sprint last time out. Mesa Moon's record on the dirt is similar to Shannon C's, however. Mesa Moon has won three of six on the main track for $104,543 earned while Shannon C is two of six on dirt with $104,338 banked. The third choice in the morning line is Fast Breakin Cash (5-1) who has made $201,593 on the main track.

Shannon C, a two-time stakes winner, is the second-highest earner in the field with $290,766 banked in 26 starts. Mesa Moon has won $133,345 in 10 starts and Fast Breakin Cash has won $219,849 in 20 tries.

The field for the Sprint from the rail out with horse, jockey, trainer, and odds are:

Fast Breakin Cash, Ramon Vazquez, C.R. Trout, 5-1
No Lak of Speed, Luis Quinonez, Jesse Oberlander, 10-1
Euromantic, Alfredo Triana, Jr., Victor Hanson, 8-1
Shannon C, Leandro Goncalves, Scott Young, 6-1
Fly to the Bank, Carlos Montalvo, James Helzer, 15-1
D Toz, Lane Luzzi, Danny Pish, 20-1
Mesa Moon, Floyd Wethey, Jr., Scott Young, 9-2
Welder, David Cabrera, Teri Luneack, 6-5

The Classics Sprint is the third race of 10 on Oct. 15 with an approximate start time of 8:05 pm. The big night of state-bred stakes events is underway at 7:07 pm. All times are Central.

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The now 8-year-old gray gelded son of The Visualiser, out of the Tiznow mare Dance Softly, owned by Ra-Max Farms (Clayton Rash) of Claremore, Okla., trained by Teri Luneack and ridden by three-time Remington Park Champion Jockey David Cabrera, is the only thoroughbred to have ever won this award more than once. Welder is fresh off being the only Thoroughbred horse in Remington Park history to win Horse of the Meet honors three years in a row.

The Oklahoma All-Breeds Horse of the Year award spans Oklahoma-bred Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, Paints and Appaloosas and is based on annual Oklahoma-bred money earned by any horse on the racetrack among any of those breeds for the year.

“He is a phenomenal horse,” said Luneack. “My crew there at the farm makes this whole thing work. It's not always easy to run racehorses from off the track. The hauling and all sure takes its toll.”

Only one horse has ever won it more years than Welder, going back to 2001 when the award was first recorded. That was Country Chicks Man, a Quarter Horse that took the prize from 2005-2008. Country Chicks Man was owned by Rafter SM Ranch, which is the property of trainer Sparky Mullins of Wagoner, Okla. Hall of Famers G.R. Carter and Jacky Martin were the regular riders for this horse in those years. Country Chicks Man was a mainstay in stakes company winner's circle photos at Remington Park throughout 2005-2008. He won 13-of-38 races lifetime before being retired in 2009 with $736,793 in his bankroll. Welder has won 26-of-38 starts for $1,204,042.

Welder banked $40,795 in Oklahoma-bred money in his 2020 races, winning the $70,000 Remington Park Turf Sprint, the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint and the $70,000 Silver Goblin Stakes all at Remington Park. He also was the easy winner in the $55,000 TRAO Classics Sprint at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore for the fifth consecutive year. His $40,795 in Oklahoma-bred money won was about $6,000 more than runner-up Eagles Fly Higher, a Quarter Horse, who had $34,800.

It was the closest race yet for Welder in the past three years for Oklahoma All-Breeds Horse of the Year. He won the 2019 version with $41,620 earned to Thoroughbred filly Alternative Slew's $32,670, and the 2018 title with $48,170 banked compared to Thoroughbred Perfect to Please's $31,348 in second.

Eagles Fly Higher, the Champion Quarter Horse of the Year in Oklahoma, won the $84,000 Sooner State Stakes at Remington Park for Okie-breds. This 5-year-old sorrel is owned by Darling Farms of Lamont, Okla., trained by Casey Black of Augusta, Kan., and ridden by Mario Delgado at Remington Park.

The following is a list of Oklahoma's All-Breeds Horse of the Year winners, their breed, and their Oklahoma-bred money earned for the year, going back to 2001, from the OHRC registrar for that category, Linda Earley:

2020 – Welder (TB), $40,795

2019 – Welder (TB), $41,620

2018 – Welder (TB), $48,170

2017 – VF Red Surprise (QH), $30,954

2016 – AJ High (QH), $39,300

2015 – Shotgun Kowboy (TB), $42,494

2014 – Im A Fancy PYC (QH), $34,750

2013 – More than Even (TB), $38,140

2012 – A Toss Up (QH), $75,500

2011 – Ted's Folly (TB), $76,020

2010 – She's All In (TB), $57,560

2009 – Marq French (TB), $29,000

2008 – Country Chicks Man (QH), $22,500

2007 – Country Chicks Man (QH), $25,000

2006 – Country Chicks Man (QH), $13,410

2005 – Country Chicks Man (QH), $12,050

2004 – Apollos Ten Bears (QH), $11,250

2003 – A Real Man (QH), $15,750

2002 – Dance and Dazzle (TB), $10,650

2001 – Devout Sinner (TB), $12,675

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If the 7-year-old by The Visualiser, out of the Tiznow mare Dance Softly, can prove triumphant, he would be the only horse to ever win the Silver Goblin Stakes four times. He currently is tied with Okie Ride, a member of the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Remington Park, with three wins apiece in this race.

Welder, owned by Ra-Max Farms (Clayton Rash) of Claremore, Okla., and trained by Teri Luneack, has won the Silver Goblin Stakes three years in a row. Welder also will try to extend his stakes winning streak to 11 at Remington Park, something no other horse has ever done here. His streak started on Nov. 17, 2017 in the Silver Goblin Stakes and followed that with victories in 2018 in the Remington Park Turf Sprint (moved to a sloppy main track), the David M. Vance Stakes, the Oklahoma Classics Sprint and the Silver Goblin Stakes. That marked the first time any horse had ever won four stakes races in one thoroughbred season at Remington.

The streak continued in 2019 when he took the Vance Stakes, the Oklahoma Classics Sprint and the Silver Goblin Stakes. He was then voted Horse of the Meeting for the second year in a row, becoming the only horse to ever accomplish that feat. In 2020, he has won the Remington Park Turf Sprint and the Oklahoma Classics Sprint. The turf sprint actually stayed on the grass this year and it was Welder's first try on that surface. He got to the wire first by a neck after it appeared he was beaten twice in the stretch.

“I almost had a heart attack,” said Luneack, after watching her prized athlete gain late to win by a neck.

Welder will be a part of a field of six for this Silver Goblin Stakes. His millionaire record and status at Remington Park has made it somewhat difficult to fill races in which he is a participant. Welder's lifetime record is 36 starts, 24 wins, five seconds and four thirds for $1,137,018 in money earned.

Another Welder victory would be his 14th at Remington Park and would put him within one of the all-time number of wins here. He has 13 wins in 17 tries in Oklahoma City and is now two wins away from tying Highland Ice and Elegant Exxactsy, who won 15 times each at Remington Park.

Welder was bred at Center Hills Farm's division of Mighty Acres Ranch in Pryor, Okla., the same farm that produced $3 million-winning turf horse Kip Deville.

Here's a look at the field for this year's edition of the Silver Goblin Stakes, 6-1/2 furlongs for Oklahoma-breds, three and older, with post positions, horse, jockeys, trainers and morning line odds:

1) Fly to the Bank: Lindey Wade, James Helzer, 12-1

2) Welder: David Cabrera, Teri Luneack, 2-5 (morning-line favorite)

3) Rockport Kat: Richard Eramia, Teri Luneack, 15-1

4) Dominante: Obed Sanchez, Shon Dunlap, 20-1

5) No Lak of Speed: Luis Quinonez, Jesse Oberlander, 8-1

6) Quality Rocket: Garrett Steinberg, Boyd Caster, 3-1

Remington Park racing continues Saturday, Nov. 7 with first post at 7:07pm-Central.

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The 7-year-old son of The Visualiser, out of the Tiznow mare Dance Softly, won his 10th stakes race in a row at Remington Park, extending his record in that category. He toyed with this field of six for the first half-mile of the six-furlongs, and when jockey David Cabrera pushed the button?

“He grabbed the bit and said, 'See ya!'” said Cabrera. “He is usually very aggressive, but tonight, whew. He really wanted to win this.”

Trainer Teri Luneack agreed with her rider.

“It's been everything we could do to control him (at the farm),” she said. “I feel so bad for Courtney (Scanling, Luneack's assistant). She has to hand walk him every day and sometimes he gets a little country. He ran a great race. I'm so proud of him. This was a tremendous team effort from top to bottom at the barn.”

Owner Clayton Rash (Ra-Max Farms), of Claremore, Okla., was wearing his lucky OU Sooners red sweatshirt. He said it really helps to have a horse like this that doesn't have a down year, especially when your football team has started at two wins, two losses.

“It really does help,” Rash said with a belly laugh. He goes to the barn three or four times a week just to scratch Welder's nose. “He even knows my cologne now. I'm a man of loyalty and I will continue to wear my Sooners stuff.”

This millionaire gelding, bred at Center Hills Farm's division at Mighty Acres Ranch in Pryor, Okla., isn't getting older; he's getting better. Welder took another step toward the all-time winningest record at Remington Park. This was his 13th win in 17 tries in Oklahoma City. He is now two wins away from tying Highland Ice and Elegant Exxactsy, who won 15 races each in their Remington Park careers.

Luneack had a good feeling about Welder all week with him jumping out of his skin.

“He can be really crabby when the girls go in (the barn) until they break out the peppermints,” she said. “Courtney is in charge of the crazy with him so I don't have to. I thought that close win on the grass might have taken something out of him, but it didn't.”

Welder won the Remington Park Turf Sprint in his last start on Sept. 25, grinding out a neck-long victory in what has been determined to be his one and only turf start.

In the Classics Sprint, Welder sat just off the pace set by 3-year-old gelding Mesa Moon and then took over in the stretch, cruising to a four-length win as the heavy betting favorite at 2-5 odds. He covered the six furlongs in 1:09.78 seconds and paid $2.80 to win, $2.10 to place and $2.10 to show. Mesa Moon (2-1 odds) held on for second, 2-1/4 lengths in front of No Lak of Speed. The interior fractions were :22.13 seconds for the first quarter-mile, :44.96 for the half-mile, and :57.18 for five-eighths of a mile.

Welder is expected to make his next trip to Remington Park for the Silver Goblin Stakes on Friday, Nov. 13. After that, if Welder doesn't have another race in Oklahoma City, Oaklawn Park is a strong possibility in Hot Springs, Ark., for his 8-year-old year debut.

“Like I am with my Sooners and Welder, I'm very loyal to Oaklawn,” said Rash. “I've been going there for the races since I was 18 years old.” That's over about a five-decade period now. There are two more loyalties Rash has no problem divulging.

“David and Teri are both phenomenal with Welder,” Rash said. “I can't tell you how much they mean to me.”

Welder earned $78,000 for the win and now has raced 36 times, won 24 and finished second five times and third four times. His lifetime bankroll is $1,137,018.

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When Luneack fell asleep, however, she never in her wildest dreams saw herself training a racehorse to a million dollars in earnings. She has done that, and will once again saddle that millionaire, Welder, in an attempt to win his 10th stakes race in a row at Remington Park when he runs in Friday night's $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint. Welder is also trying to extend his record of nine consecutive stakes victories at this track.

If you didn't believe in destiny before, the storied road that led Luneack to Welder and his owner Clayton Rash (Ra-Max Farms) of Claremore, Okla., might change your mind.

Luneack grew up in Michigan and when she graduated from Traverse City Senior High she walked out the doors of the high school and straight into the United States Navy.

“I was 17 years old and immediately joined,” she said. “While I was in the Navy from 1984-88, I learned to be a welder.”

Insert goose-bump music here. That was long before she started working with horses and years before meeting Rash, who had built an international welding business.

“That's crazy, isn't it?” she said of the welder connection. “To think years later I would go to work for Clayton and him saying, 'Let's name one horse Welder.'”

Luneack learned her hard-nosed work ethic in the Navy and that led to success as she moved into the horse world. She began training horses in the show horse industry when her kids, Taylor (son) and Haley (daughter), were young.

“I showed dressage for years before my children were old enough to show,” she said. “Once they got bigger, we started showing together. Both of my children are extremely good horsemen.”

Luneack and her crew in Michigan won many world championships in both halter and riding. She had never met Rash before, but he had show horses at the time.

“Taylor actually introduced me to Clayton and we all decided it would work great for me to come down to Oklahoma and run Clayton's farm there,” she said.

So, while the Navy had shown her places like Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Diego Garcia, Thailand and the Philippines, the horse world had plopped her down in Claremore, Okla.

On one bright morning while searching for yearlings to buy in nearby Pryor, Okla. at the Mighty Acres farm, fate struck this outfit like lightning in a thunderstorm. Rash had put aside enough money to buy about five yearlings priced at $6,400 apiece. They had just about wrapped up the deal when Luneack said she spotted a little, gray guy standing in the corner of his stall.

“He was perfect; straight as an arrow,” she said. “We asked if they would throw him in and eventually they said yes.”

Shortly thereafter, Rash suggested to Luneack that they name one of the horses in the bunch “Welder.”

“I said, 'How about this gray one? He's a welder's colors.'”

The rest is history in Oklahoma horse racing. Here is a litany of the things Oklahoma-bred Welder, a son of The Visualiser, out of the Tiznow mare Dance Softly, has accomplished under the keen eye of Luneack's training:

• Two-time Oklahoma Horse of the Year.
• Only horse in Remington Park history (since 1988) that has won back-to-back Horse of the Meet trophies.
• Set the track record for six furlongs in 1:08.13 seconds winning the David M. Vance Sprint on Sept. 29, 2019.
• Nine consecutive stakes wins in a row at Remington Park – two Remington Park Turf Sprints (one was taken off the turf and moved to a sloppy main track), three wins in the Silver Goblin Stakes, two wins in the Oklahoma Classics Sprint, and two Vance Sprints.
• Crept up on Slide Show's all-time 11-race win streak at Remington Park before losing an open allowance on Dec. 14, 2019. He had nine wins in a row, settling for second longest streak in Oklahoma City.
• Four-time Horse of the Meet at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore.
• Winner of Thoroughbred Racing Association Oklahoma Classic Sprint five years in a row at WRD.

He is the prohibitive 1-2 favorite to win his third Oklahoma Classics Sprint in a row. Highland Ice and Okie Ride won this race four times. Medium Rare won it three times. Jockey David Cabrera has been aboard for eight of the nine stakes wins at Remington Park, Travis Cunningham started the streak in 2017 in the Silver Goblin.

Now the story has come full circle for Luneack as Welder's numbers – 35 starts, 23 wins, five seconds and four thirds for total earnings of $1,059,018, tends to make her head spin, much like the feeling she used to get staring at her Barbies and curtains as a child.

“I've always been horse crazy,” she said. “I'm thinking I was born with it.”

Remington Park racing continues Wednesday through Saturday, Oct. 14-17, with the first race nightly at 7:07pm. The Oklahoma Classics, a million-dollar night of divisional stakes events for top Oklahoma-breds, is on Friday.

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