Trainer C.R. Trout won the $175,000 Oklahoma Classics Cup, powered by TVG, with Absaroka on Friday night, his seventh win of this race in the past nine years.
It helps when you have an Oklahoma-bred millionaire like Shotgun Kowboy win it four times, but Trout has dominated in this spot. Shotgun Kowboy won it in 2015 and 2017-2019. His other winner was Imahit in back-to-back years, 2013 and 2014.
It was Absaroka's third win in a row at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla., as he broke like a rocket with his early speed on the rail under jockey David Cabrera, who won this race for the fourth time. The gelding's first two wins of the meet were not against stakes company, however. Still, Absaroka went off the even-money favorite and cruised to a 4-1/4 lengths victory in wire-to-wire fashion. Cabrera also won this race in the saddle of Phantom Trip in 2016 and Shotgun Kowboy's last two wins in the Cup.
Running time for the 1-1/16th miles was 1:43.19 over the fast track. Absaroka, a 5-year-old gelding by Flat Out, from the Brahms mare Wanton Song, made every pole a winning one. He set fractions of :24.10 for the quarter-mile, :48.45 for the half-mile, 1:12.62 for six furlongs, and 1:36.97 for the mile. He was bred by owner Cowboy Stables (Blake Sappington) of Clinton, Okla.
“This horse is so easy to train,” said Trout, who picked up his 14th career Oklahoma Classics win with Absaroka. “He's had a couple of hiccups along the way and I have to give it up to the owner because they gave us the money to straighten him out and we have worked the problems out.”
Cabrera was so grateful for more than Trout putting him on Absaroka.
“I've known C.R. Trout probably the longest of anyone here,” Cabrera said. “He's the first person I knew here when I came (in 2015). I'm so happy he gave me the opportunity on this horse. He went to the lead and I had so much horse left in the end.”
Absaroka paid $4, $2.20, and $2.10 across the board. Number One Dude (6-5) reported in second and was seven lengths ahead of third-place finisher Dont Tell Noobody (5-1), who was the defending champion in this race. The remaining order of finish was United Patriot (4th), Tonaltalitarian (5th), and Great Faces (6th).
Absaroka earned $105,000 with his trip to the winner's circle and improved his record to 17 starts, five wins, four seconds, and one third, almost doubling his lifetime earnings in this race. He now has $214,317 overall.
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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