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Shannon C Headlines Field For Silver Goblin At Remington

For the first time since 2016, there will be a new horse rewarded with the Silver Goblin Stakes trophy on Friday, Nov. 12 at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Remington Park's all-time winningest horse, Welder, has won the race the past four years for owner Ra-Max Farms (Clayton Rash) of Claremore, Okla., three times for trainer Teri Luneack.

The 8-year-old gelding who retired on Oct. 15 with 16 wins at Remington Park and 27 overall has won the Silver Goblin Stakes a record number of times, one ahead of Okie Ride. This year, there were 20 nominations to the 6-1/2 furlong race, including the horse that beat Welder in the final race of his career. The race is written for 3-year-olds-and-older that are Oklahoma foals. Shannon C won the Oklahoma Classics Sprint on Oct. 15 and Welder ran third.

Shannon C had been beaten by Welder four times in his career before winning the Oklahoma Classics Sprint, but the fifth time was the charm. The 6-year-old gelded son of Latent Heat, out of the Fistfite mare Miranda Diane, is owned by B and S Racing (Robert Smith) of Springfield, Mo., and trained by Scott Young. He was ridden to his Classics win by Leandro Goncalves.

Shannon C could very well be the heir apparent to picking up the dropped baton. He is on a two-stakes win streak, having taken the $70,000 Remington Park Turf Sprint on Sept. 3. He could easily be the favorite in the Silver Goblin off those consecutive stakes wins.

“Shannon has been an iron horse from Day One,” said Young. “The Classics win was his day. It took a while but he showed why Bob and Ted (Bozarth and 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.”

Shannon C drew away impressively at the end, winning by three lengths at 5-1 odds. Young ran 1-2 in the race as Mesa Moon held off Welder by one length. The trainer has also nominated Mesa Moon for owner Cimarron TTT Farms (Marvin Triplett) of Edmond, Okla. Mesa Moon was three lengths back of his stablemate in the Oklahoma Classics Sprint at 6 furlongs.

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.

Another multiple stakes winner that figures to vie for favoritism, if he should hit the entry box of this race, is Quality Rocket. He was soundly defeated in seventh in the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Turf on Oct. 15, after winning it last year and taking the Red Earth Stakes two years in a row on the turf. His talents go far beyond routing on the grass, however. He has won the Route 66 Stakes at Fair Meadows in Tulsa, Okla., two years in a row on the dirt at the distance for the Silver Goblin Stakes.

Quality Rocket, a 7-year-old gelded son of Backstabber, out of the King of Scat mare, has an impressive lifetime record of 36 starts, 11 wins, nine seconds, and one third for $409,006 in earnings. If he were to go in the Silver Goblin, he would be the top money earner. That's not too shabby for a horse that had been put in for a $7,500 claiming tag three races in a row in the early part of his career. He is owned by Jeremy Ball of Shawnee, Okla., trained by Boyd “Jobe” Caster. Ramon Vazquez has been in the saddle for his last two stakes tries.

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The record time for the Silver Goblin is 1:15, set by Zee Oh Six in 2005, the first year of the race named for one of the greatest Oklahoma-breds in history. Silver Goblin is seventh among Okie-breds in lifetime money earned with $1,083,895. He is behind Kip Deville ($3,325,489), Lady's Secret ($3,021,325), Shotgun Kowboy ($1,548,684), Clever Trevor ($1,388,841), Welder ($1,263,359), and She's All In ($1,102,489). Silver Goblin had 26 career starts with 16 wins, four seconds, and three thirds from 1993-99. He will long be remembered for running second to Cigar in the 1995 Oaklawn Handicap at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. Cigar was in the middle of a 16-race win streak. Cigar won just short of $10 million in his career.

Racing continues next week with a Wednesday-Saturday night schedule. First post time is 7:07 p.m. Central.

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Quality Rocket Seeks A Repeat In OKC Turf At Remington Park

A solid field of 11 has been drawn for the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics OKC Turf, sponsored by the Choctaw Nation, on Friday, Oct. 15 at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla. If the 5-2 morning line favorite Quality Rocket defends his championship, he will have earned it.

Quality Rocket drew the 11-hole, the far outside post for this race at 1-1/16th miles. He also has been challenged strongly by some in this field.

Trainer Boyd “Jobe” Caster, in the past three years, has turned Quality Rocket, a 7-year-old gelding, into a turf monster, winning last year's Turf and the Red Earth Stakes twice. This son of Backstabber, out of the King of Scat mare Lady Cambridge, has earned $409,006 over his career, winning 11 of 35 starts. The most telling statistic that shows just how Quality Rocket has bloomed as an older horse is that Caster put him into claiming races for a $7,500 tag three times when he was a 4-year-old in 2018 and no one grabbed him. In those three races, he had run second twice and won by 6-3/4 lengths. That win came in only the second time around two turns for Quality Rocket.

Quality Rocket, owned by Jeremy Ball of Shawnee, Okla., won last year's race for Jeremy's father Gerald Ball, who has passed away in the meantime. If Quality Rocket could get the job done again this year, it would be the third win in the Turf for Caster. He also won this race in 2012 with Ridge Road with jockey Lindey Wade up. Garrett Steinberg booted home Quality Rocket last year and Ramon Vazquez gets the call for this year's Turf.

Quality Rocket would have won three Red Earth Stakes races in a row had it not been for a late rush from longshot Timely Reply in 2019 that left him in second, beaten by a neck.

Last year, Quality Rocket held off Half Ours to Keep (4-1) by a head at the wire in the Turf. Half Ours to Keep, a 5-year-old gelded son of Beggarthyneighbor, out of the Purim mare Cusip, is owned by Erin Gaarz of Arlington, Texas, and trained by Karl Broberg. He will be ridden by Stewart Elliott, who is among the top grass riders at Remington every thoroughbred meet. However, Half Ours to Keep is 0-for-10 on the grass with $66,448 banked greensward, but that move last year makes him dangerous. He will break just to Quality Rocket's inside in post 10.

The third choice in the line at 9-2, Quarky, also has to be given a solid shot in here. He ran second to Quality Rocket in this meet's Red Earth Stakes, beaten one length, and actually was sent off as the 9-5 favorite in that race. This 5-year-old gelding by The Factor, out of the Sahm mare Beyond the Reach, is owned by Jerry Namy of Ft. Worth, Texas, and trained by Broberg. He will be ridden by David Cabrera, the three-time defending champion rider here. Cabrera has an easy lead in the jockeys' standings this meet as well.

Quarky is a four-time winner on the lawn with his most recent win on the grass coming at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., when he won an allowance race there on Dec. 11, 2020. He is the second-most experienced on the turf with 23 starts on that surface. Only Pacific Typhoon (15-1) has more starts on the grass with 26, winning eight times. He ran fourth in this race last year, beaten only 1-1/4 lengths.

Another consideration has to be Khola (6-1), a winner of his last two starts on the grass, both times in allowance company. This 4-year-old gelded son of Pollard's Vision, out of the Election Day (IRE) mare Buena Fortuna (MEX), hails from trainer Kari Craddock's barn for owner Craddock Racing of Brookings, S.D. He will be ridden by Leandro Goncalves. It will only be his third start against stakes horses. His best finish in a stakes race was fourth in two tries.

Here's the field from the rail out with horse, jockey, trainer, and odds:

Morhawk, Richard Eramia, Karl Broberg, 20-1
Pacific Typhoon, Lane Luzzi, Austin Gustafson, 15-1
Khola, Leandro Goncalves, Kari Craddock, 6-1
Quarky, David Cabrera, Karl Broberg, 9-2
Sweet Medicine, Luis Quinonez, Francisco Bravo, 8-1
Yip Kip, Ezequiel Lara, Lynn Chleborad, 20-1
Gospel Musketeer, Jose Medina, Steve Williams, 30-1
Tommyhawk, Freddy Manrrique, Randy Swango, 10-1
Georgia Deputy, Jose Alvarez, Joe Petalino, 20-1
Half Ours to Keep, Stewart Elliott, Karl Broberg, 4-1
Quality Rocket, Ramon Vazquez, Boyd “Jobe” Caster, 5-2

The Turf is set as the ninth of 10 races on Oklahoma Classics Night, with an approximate start time of 11:05 pm. The first race on Oct. 15 goes at 7:07 pm. All times are Central.

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Quality Rocket Repeats In Red Earth Stakes At Remington

Quality Rocket won his second consecutive $70,000 Red Earth Stakes at 7-1/2 furlongs on the turf Friday night at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla. If not for a late runner two years ago, it would have been his third consecutive win in this race.

In that 2019 race, a huge longshot, Timely Reply chased down Quality Rocket in the stretch after the near three-time winner had a two-length lead coming for home in that race. Quality Rocket lost by a neck in that one, but has been perfect in the Red Earth Stakes since. The 7-year-old gelding by Backstabber, out of the King of Scat mare Lady Cambridge, won last year by 4-1/4 lengths with Garrett Steinberg up.

Quality Rocket passed the 9-5 wagering favorite Quarky on Friday night in the stretch to get up by one length with Ramon Vazquez in the saddle for trainer Boyd “Jo-be” Caster.

“He loves to be a racehorse,” said Caster. “and he gets better with age. He's like, 'Line 'em up and let me run.'”

Run, he did. He covered the distance in 1:28.45 over the firm turf, faster than his 1:28.64 that he won in last year. Quality Rocket actually ran even faster when he finished second by a neck. The winner two years ago, Timely Reply, finished in 1:27.69. It was Caster's second win in this stakes race and Vazquez's first. Last year, Quality Rocket won for owner Gerald Ball, who passed away between that race and this one. The gelding is now in the hands of Jeremy D. Ball, Gerald's son, of Shawnee, Okla.

“Yeah, we lost Gerald last year; I'm sure he was watching tonight,” Caster said. “Quality Rocket sure does like the grass. His daddy (Backstabber) did, too. He passed it on to his son.”

Quality Rocket, bred in Oklahoma by Gerald and Oteka Ann Ball, earned $42,000 for the victory and improved his lifetime record to 35 starts, 11 wins, nine seconds, and one third for $409,006 in his bankroll. His turf record is seven starts, three wins, and one second for $181,280. This horse has been versatile for Caster as well. He has won back-to-back $45,000 Route 66 stakes at Fair Meadows in Tulsa, Okla., the past two years, at 6-1/2 furlongs on the dirt of a half-mile bullring there. In this year's Route 66 he finished 4-1/2 lengths ahead of Welder, a sprinting Oklahoma-bred millionaire.

Quality Rocket followed up his win in the Red Earth here last year with a victory in the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Turf, stretching out to 1-1/16th miles on the grass. Caster said he would likely go in that race again this year, scheduled for Oct. 15.

“Jo-Be just told me not to fight him and let him get comfortable,” said Vazquez. “I had my doubts, yes, about getting past that 2-horse. I was just waiting for my moment and my horse didn't quit.”

Quality Rocket (5-2) returned $7.20 to win, $3.80 to place, and $3.20 to show. Tommyhawk was third at 15-1 odds, 1-3/4 lengths behind the runner-up. The early fractions in the race were :23.22 for the first quarter-mile, :46.62 for the half-mile, and 1:10.48 for three-quarters of a mile.

Racing continues this week with a Saturday-Sunday schedule. It's the only Sunday race day of the meet, serving as Oklahoma Derby Day. Post time is 3 p.m. on Sept. 26, while Saturday night begins at 7:07 p.m.

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