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Optionality Gets Third Consecutive Win In Trapeze Stakes At Remington

Optionality has turned into a machine, winning her third race in a row, all by more than six lengths. Her win Friday night was trainer Steve Asmussen's second in the last three years in the $101,100 Trapeze Stakes for 2-year-old fillies going one mile at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Asmussen also won this race in 2019 with Princesinha Julia. It was the first win in the Trapeze for jockey Jose Ortiz and owner Winchell Thoroughbreds (Ron Winchell) of Las Vegas.

On Friday night, Optionality got home a city block in front of everyone. She cruised to the lead just past the half-mile marker in the race and the rest of the field never heard from her again as she drew off to an impressive 8-1/4 lengths victory.

This daughter of the prolific sire Gun Runner, out of the Pulpit mare Simplify, broke her maiden at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Ind., two races back on Oct. 26, a victor by 6-3/4 lengths. Her subsequent start was on Oct. 26 at Zia Park in New Mexico in stakes company. She won the $50,000 Zia Princess Stakes also by daylight, checking in 6-1/2 lengths in front.

“She's a very versatile filly,” said the country's all-time winningest trainer Steve Asmussen. “I'm so proud to have another Gun Runner that can do this. She's won at three tracks, at two distances with three different jockeys. This was a good effort at one mile.”

Ortiz was equally impressed. His brother, Irad Ortiz, No. 2 in the nation in earnings in 2021, was in the saddle for the Zia win.

“She broke good,” Jose Ortiz said, “and Steve really had her ready. She started looking around at the end with it being nighttime and the lights and the shadow at the wire, but she got the job done.”

Optionality was the second betting favorite in the race at 2-1 odds and paid $6.20 to win, $3.20 to place, and $2.80 to show. Golden Sights, a distant runner-up, was the 6-5 favorite, three-quarters of a length ahead of Hits Pricey Legacy (4-1) in third. Running time for the mile was 1:41.10 over the fast track, a tad faster (.13) than the Springboard Mile a race later. Interior fractions for the race were :23.91 for the first quarter-mile, :48.49 for the half-mile, 1:13.87 for three-quarters of a mile and 1:27.13 for seven eighths.

The remaining order of finish in the Trapeze was Ring Me Darling (4th), Rollin Chrome (5th), Morning Twilight (6th), Diamonds N Aces (7th), Lilly's Bidness (8th), and Brodie Baby (9th).

It took Optionality four tries to win for the first time, but she hasn't lost since. Her record improved to six starts, three wins, one second, and two thirds for $124,000 earned. She won $60,000 for the trip to the winner's circle in the Trapeze. She is a Kentucky home-bred for the Winchells.

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Number One Dude Dominant In Jim Thorpe At Remington

Number One Dude solidified his dominance as arguably the top Oklahoma-bred in training as he won the $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes by open daylight on Friday night at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Owner-breeder Terry Westemeir of Broken Arrow, Okla., said his only concern was the long layoff for his 3-year-old gelded son of American Lion, out of the Macho Uno mare Ebony Uno. Number One Dude had been off since Oct. 15 when he ran second in the $175,000 Oklahoma Classics Cup to multiple-time winner at Remington this meet, Absaroka.

Number One Dude has now won four Oklahoma-bred stakes races at Remington Park and one at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla. His overall record improved to 10 starts, six victories, and two seconds for $276,843. He earned $42,000 from this purse.

He was purchased by Westemeir when the owner bought Number One Dude's dam (mom) Ebony Uno and she was in foal with him. Westemeir was trying to figure out how to break the news to his wife Leslie that he had bought not only one horse, but another one yet to come.

“She didn't want me to buy one, let alone two,” Westemeir said. “She's good now.”

Regardless of what the undisclosed purchase price was, it couldn't have been close to what he has earned on the track. Number One Dude broke his maiden at Remington Park as a 2-year-old on Sept. 18, 2020. He won that race by 7 1/2 lengths. He followed that up with victories in the $100,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile and the $75,000 Don McNeill Stakes on Oct. 16 and Nov. 13, respectively, last year. The margins of victory in those two were one length and six lengths.

An abscess developed and was found after he was soundly defeated in the $200,000 Springboard Mile to finish the 2020 meet, running eighth, and he was given time off before his next start at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. The layoff showed as he could do no better than fifth, beaten 13 lengths in open allowance 3-year-olds company there on May 9 this spring.

After winning the $55,000 Will Rogers Stakes on May 25 by 5 1/4 lengths, he had a quick trip to Iowa and Prairie Meadows before returning to his home base at Remington Park. Once he got back to Oklahoma City, he became a monster again.

He won the $50,000 Oklahoma Stallion Stakes by seven lengths on Sept. 10 here and then was the runner-up to Absaroka prior to this race. Number One Dude, a beautiful dark bay, almost black, then had the short vacation.

“I was concerned about the lack of a race since the Classics Cup,” Westemeir said. “I have to give credit to (trainer) Kari (Craddock) and her crew, Jeremy Collier and exercise rider Keith Bilbey, (jockey) Leandro (Goncalves), and everyone else for getting him ready off of works.”

Number One Dude sat just off the shoulder of front-runner Salt Creek Kid all down the backstretch. When the pacesetter began to fade to last, the Craddock charge took over and drew away by seven lengths as the heavy wagering favorite at 2-5 odds.

Tap the Dot was second at 3-1 and You'reobadboy finished third, another half-length behind at 27-1.

Number One Dude showed his tactical speed behind early fractions of :24.76 for the first quarter-mile, :49.69 for the half-mile, 1:14.84 for three-quarters of a mile, and 1:27.51 for seven furlongs, finishing the mile in 1:40.25 over the fast track. He paid $2.80 to win, $2.10 to place, and $2.10 to show.

The Jim Thorpe Stakes is named after the native Oklahoman and Olympic gold-medalist who was considered the greatest athlete of the 20th century.

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‘Scrappy Little Horse’ Mighty Heart Up For The Challenge In Saturday’s Harlan’s Holiday

Lawrence Cordes' Mighty Heart will keep an eye on the prize – literally – after the 4-year-old son of Dramedy leaves the starting gate in Saturday's $150,000 Harlan's Holiday (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

Although he has the use of only one eye, the over-achieving colt has persevered to become a multiple graded-stakes winner with purse earnings over $1 million. The homebred colt, whose left eye had to be removed following a paddock accident when he was only two-weeks old, reached the pinnacle of Canadian racing when he won the 2020 Queen's Plate, the first leg of the Triple Crown for Ontario-bred 3-year-olds. The homebred colt also won the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie on his way to being honored as the 2020 Canadian Horse of the Year.

“He has been a lot of fun for us. He was the underdog in the Queen's Plate and he ran the race of his life,” trainer Jose Carroll said. “He always shows up. I call him a scrappy little horse. He loves to go head-and-head. He's a trying little horse.”

Mighty Heart will carry highweight of 126 pounds in the Harlan's Holiday, a 1 1/16-mile prep for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational [(G1), Jan. 29], on Saturday's 11-race program with five stakes, four graded, including the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale, a 1 1/8-mile prep for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).

The ultra-consistent Mighty Heart, who is coming off a victory in the Autumn Stakes (G2) on Woodbine's Tapeta surface over which he won the Queen's Plate. The resilient colt captured the Prince of Wales, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown on dirt but failed to pull off a series sweep, finishing far back in the Breeders' Stakes over Woodbine's turf.

“I don't think the turf was the reason. He broke sharply and was headed by a longshot, and he never came off the bridle. He galloped right along early and got tired,” Carroll said.

Mighty Heart is rated second in the morning-line at 9-5 behind Todd Pletcher-trained Fearless, the 8-5 favorite who captured the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) last season.

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Juvenile Marr Time, Half-Sister To Beholder, Returns In Oaklawn Allowance On Sunday

She has a chance to do something her famous mother couldn't – win at Oaklawn.

Unbeaten Marr Time faces winners for the first time in Sunday's sixth race, an entry-level allowance sprint for 2-year-old fillies for trainer Brad Cox and breeder/owner Clarkland Farm (Fred Mitchell). Marr Time is by the top young sire Not This Time, but it's her dam's name that turns heads. Marr Time is out of Leslie's Lady, making her a half-sister to four-time Eclipse Award winner and future Hall of Famer Beholder, super sire Into Mischief and Grade 1 winner Mendelssohn.

Marr Time, as the 3-5 favorite, was a front-running 2 ¾-length winner of her Oct. 28 career debut at Keeneland. Florent Geroux, Oaklawn's leading rider through the first six days of the 2021-2022 meeting, has the return call on Marr Time, who is scheduled to break from post 2 in the projected eight-horse field.

“Marr Time, she's obviously got a big pedigree,” Cox said Thursday afternoon. “Fast filly. Hopeful that this is the next step to stretching her out. We like her. She's pretty classy.”

Marr Time has worked twice at Oaklawn in advance of her local debut. She recorded a 5-furlong bullet (:59.60) Dec. 5 and covered a half-mile in :48.40 Dec. 12. Marr Time will be racing on Lasix for the first time Sunday.

“She's a big, beautiful filly,” Cox said. “We'll see how it goes.”

Leslie's Lady ran in three sprints at the 1999 Oaklawn meeting for Bob Holthus, Oaklawn's all-time leading trainer, and owner James T. Hines Jr. Leslie's Lady, a daughter of Tricky Creek, finished second to stablemate The Happy Hopper in the $50,000 Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, fifth as the heavy favorite in an allowance event and fourth in the $35,000 America's First Lady Stakes. Holthus and Hines' estate later campaigned 2006 Arkansas Derby and Rebel winner Lawyer Ron.

Clarkland Farm purchased Leslie's Lady for $100,000 at the 2006 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. She was named 2016 Broodmare of the Year by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders. Leslie's Lady, 25, was pensioned last spring, with Marr Time her penultimate foal.

Not This Time, by Giant's Causeway out of Oaklawn stakes winner Miss Macy Sue, finished second in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) in 2016.

Probable post time for Sunday's sixth race is 2:51 p.m. (Central).

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