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Monomoy Girl, Whitmore Among Nominees For 2020 Secretariat Vox Populi Award

Online voting is now open for the 11th annual winner of the Secretariat Vox Populi Horse of 2020. Created by Secretariat's late owner Penny Chenery, the Vox Populi, or “Voice of the People,” award recognizes the racehorse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the public and gained recognition for the sport during the past year.

The Secretariat Vox Populi Horse of 2020 tops the ticket for the America's Best Racing (ABR) Fan Choice Awards in a partnership that allows fans to vote in the online poll at Secretariat.com as well as AmericasBestRacing.net for one of five nominees selected by the Vox Populi Committee. Voters also have the option to write in a racehorse of their choice at Secretariat.com. Voting will be open on both sites through Nov. 30.

The recipient of the Secretariat Vox Populi Horse of 2020, along with the winners of the other Fan Choice Awards categories, will be announced Thursday, Dec. 3. A trophy presentation for the 2020 Vox Populi winner is planned for January.

This year's nominees are: Authentic, the speedy 3-year-old colt who led wire-to-wire in both the 2020 Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup Classic; Monomoy Girl, the classy 5-year-old mare and 2018 Vox Populi nominee who was undefeated during her 2020 comeback campaign that culminated with a win in the Breeders' Cup Distaff; Swiss Skydiver, the electrifying and well-traveled 3-year-old filly whose multiple stakes wins included beating the boys in the second fastest Preakness Stakes; Tiz the Law, the impressive 3-year-old colt whose four wins in six starts included the Belmont Stakes, the Travers and Florida Derby; and Whitmore, the veteran 7-year-old gelding whose first-place finishes included the Breeders' Cup Sprint and his third career win in the Count Fleet Spring Handicap.

“In a peculiar year that upended both the horse racing calendar and its traditions, we still have equine athletes who have persevered and admirably performed, oblivious to human concerns,” said Kate Chenery Tweedy, family historian and daughter of Penny Chenery. “Each of our Vox Populi nominees has captured the hearts of horse racing fans at a time when we are all are in need of inspiration.”

The list of previous Vox Populi winners reads as a who's who among the sport's contemporary superstars and beloved equine heroes: Bricks and Mortar (2019), Winx (2018), Ben's Cat (2017), California Chrome (2016 and 2014), American Pharoah (2015), Mucho Macho Man (2013), Paynter (2012), Rapid Redux (2011), and 2010 inaugural winner Zenyatta.

The nominating committee for the Secretariat Vox Populi Horse of 2020 is comprised of several distinguished personalities from within and outside the racing industry who all share a keen interest and affection for the sport. For more information about the award, visit Secretariat.com, the official website for the legendary Thoroughbred champion. Celebrating racing's past to enrich its future, Secretariat.com is a comprehensive online source for historical information, photography, merchandise, and memorabilia chronicling the enduring legacy of the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Secretariat.com can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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‘So Proud Of Him’: Welder Continues Assault On Remington Park Record Books

In 2016, Welder ran second in the Oklahoma Classics Sprint to Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame runner Okie Ride.

Four years later, if Welder wins the $70,000 Silver Goblin Stakes on Friday, Nov. 13, he will pass Okie Ride for most stakes wins in the history of Remington Park with 11. Welder, a 7-year-old gelding owned by Ra-Max Farms (Clayton Rash) of Claremore, Okla., would also pass Okie Ride for most wins in the Silver Goblin Stakes with a fourth career score in the event.

The son of The Visualiser, out of the Tiznow mare Dance Softly Now, is trained by Teri Luneack and ridden by Remington Park leading rider David Cabrera. Another score in the Silver Goblin Stakes would also give Welder his 11th stakes win in a row, extending that Remington Park record he already holds at 10 consecutive.

Welder holds the main track record for six furlongs 1:08.13, set in the David Vance Stakes on Sept. 29, 2019. He was voted Oklahoma's Horse of the Year for the second year in a row in 2019 and is the only horse ever voted Remington Park's Horse of the Meet in two consecutive years. A win Friday would move him to within one of the all-time victories total at Remington Park. He would have 14, one behind Highland Ice and Elegant Exxactsy.

Welder is the most recent Oklahoma-bred to become a millionaire. He became the eighth Oklahoma-bred to achieve the mark when he won the TRAO Classic Sprint in April this year at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore. It was his fifth consecutive win in that stakes event.

Asked what record or accolade Welder holds or is chasing that has meant the most to her, Luneack said, “the most significant thing for us was when he passed the $1 million mark. It was the one goal that Clayton and I talked about and had set.”

As far as her favorite stakes win for Welder, Luneack said it had to be the David M. Vance Stakes in 2019.

“I was so proud of him for beating all those shippers that came in from around the country,” said Luneack. “The funniest story I heard was that the shippers were over in the test barn and they were all asking (the veterinarian), 'What is this Okie-bred doing in this race?' And he said, 'because he is one fast SOB.' Winning that race was my proudest moment with him.”

An indication of just how fast this gray streak of lightning is came in the Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas on March 9, 2019. He came up against a legendary sprinter, Whitmore, in that race. That 7-year-old gelding just won the Breeders' Cup Sprint this past weekend by 3-1/4 lengths at Keeneland. In the Hot Springs Stakes, he beat Welder by two lengths.

“Whitmore is a war horse,” Luneack said. “I was screaming so much for him to win (the BC Sprint). “I respect him so much. No one is more deserving of that win. If they do bring him back (at 8 years old, just like Welder) for Oaklawn, I imagine we could run into him again. We have every intention to run Welder in Hot Springs. It all depends on the Oklahoma weather that time of year.

“We run into a problem, since we don't have stalls (at Oaklawn), of vanning him over there and finding a track to work him on leading up to the race,” Luneack noted. Will Rogers Downs, Welder's local track, is not open early in the year for workouts, when Oaklawn begins racing.

The first major sprint race on Oaklawn's calendar is the King Cotton Stakes on Feb. 6 at six furlongs.

Okie Ride was inducted into the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2017. He won four Oklahoma Classics Sprints, three Silver Goblin Stakes and three Remington Park Turf Sprints. He was owned by the Richter Family Trust of Perkins, Okla. and conditioned by Kenny Nolen.

“I do remember running second to him with Welder,” said Luneack. “You don't like to lose, but he was such a cool horse and meant so much to Kenny. I was genuinely happy for Kenny. I was sad we lost, but it's okay to lose to a horse like that.”

Welder has been made the 2-5 morning-line favorite to break and extend another set of Remington Park records Friday night in a field of six horses.

Here's a look at this year's edition of the Silver Goblin Stakes, 6-1/2 furlongs for Oklahoma-breds, three and older, with post positions, horse, jockey, trainer 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

The Silver Goblin Stakes is the eighth race of nine on Friday night. The first race is set for 7:07pm, with the Silver Goblin Stakes scheduled for 10:23pm.

The Silver Goblin Stakes is named after another Oklahoma-bred millionaire who was adept at winning stakes races at both sprint distances and at more than one mile in the 1990s.

Remington Park will also conduct a Saturday card on Nov. 14, beginning at 7:07pm.

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Baffert-Trained Private Mission Likely Favorite In Desi Arnaz

Charles Chu, a highly successful businessman from Massachusetts who manufactures global positioning systems (GPS), watched his wife Susan have great fun dabbling in the racing game a few years back. So he thought he'd give it a try, too. The first horse he bought was named Drefrong and all he did was win the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint in 2016.

Since then the Chus, who originally hail from Taiwan and who race under the name Baoma Corporation, have gone in with both feet and by all reports are loving it. They now run their own breeding operation and have had fine success with that, too. But they also continue to buy and race horses, like a filly named Private Mission who'll carry their colors Saturday in the featured Desi Arnaz Stakes at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

Private Mission was a $750,000 yearling purchase in 2019 who got off on the right foot with a win in her initial start at Santa Anita on October 12 for trainer Bob Baffert. That was a 6 1/2-furlong straight maiden test with Drayden Van Dyke up. For the Arnaz, the daughter of Into Mischief has been made the 9-5 morning line favorite and will have Van Dyke in the boot once again.

The Chus have entered another well-bred and high-priced ($700,000) runner in the Desi Arnaz – Varda, a first-out winner who then was stakes-placed behind star Princess Noor at Santa Anita most recently in the Chandelier Stakes on September 26. She, too, runs out of the Bob Baffert barn and the daughter of Distorted Humor will go postward at 6-1 in the morning line with Abel Cedillo riding.

The pair of bay fillies will take on six rivals in the sixth edition of the stakes, named for the band leader, actor and huge racing fan-owner-breeder who most famously teamed with his wife, Lucille Ball, to give us one of early television's most popular shows – “I Love Lucy.”

Here's the full field for the extended dash from the rail out with riders and odds:

C T R Stables and Wonderland Racing's Plum Sexy (Heriberto Figuero, 12-1); Private Mission; B-4 Farms' Canoodling (Umberto Rispoli, 12-1); Varda; Saragol Stable Corp or Viana's Queengol (Juan Hernandez, 4-1); McClanahan, Carrol Boys Racing or Say's Miss Costa Rica (Flavien Prat, 10-1), LNJ Foxwoods' Astute (Mike Smith, 3-1), and Pegram, Watson and Weitman's Heels Up (Victor Espinoza, 8-1).

Astute, a $425,000 yearling by Speightstown, scored in her debut on October 12, a sprint on the grass against straight maidens at Santa Anita. She's conditioned by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella and has Hall of Famer Smith as her partner again.

Saturday's nine-race card is off and running at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. The Arnaz goes as the 8th race on the program with an approximate off time of 4 p.m.

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Mr. Buff ‘Seems To Be Holding His Form,’ Could Try Cigar Mile

Chester and Mary Broman's New York-bred Mr. Buff breezed a sharp half-mile in 48.47 on Nov. 8 on the Belmont main track and is under consideration for the Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap for 3-year-olds and up slated for Dec. 5 at Aqueduct.

Trainer John Kimmel said the 6-year-old Friend Or Foe chestnut, who garnered a 94 Beyer for his frontrunning Empire Classic score last out on October 24 at Belmont, is training well.

“It was a good work. He came out of his last race well and seems to be holding his form,” said Kimmel.

Mr. Buff, who boasts a record of 40-15-7-4 with purse earnings in excess of $1.2 million, enjoyed a profitable winter at Aqueduct winning the Alex M. Robb against state-breds in December and the open Jazil in January before romping to a 20-length score over state-breds in the Haynesfield at one mile on the Big A main.

Following the Empire Classic score, Kimmel said he would consider pointing Mr. Buff to the nine-furlong Grade 1 Clark on November 27 at Churchill Downs but is now focused on either the Cigar Mile or defending his title in the nine-furlong $100,000 Alex M. Robb for New York-breds 3-years old and up on December 12.

“We won't go out of town to the Clark. We'll look at either the Cigar Mile or the Alex M. Robb,” said Kimmel. “His one-turn mile race at Aqueduct last year [the Haynesfield] before he went to the shelf was excellent when he won by 20 lengths. The Cigar Mile is a possibility depending on who shows up. If it looks too deep, we could wait until the next week and go in the easier spot, but the Cigar Mile is something we'll nominate for and take a look at.”

Top contenders for the Cigar Mile currently include Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby-winner King Guillermo and 2019 Grade 3 Discovery-winner Performer. The Cigar Mile Day card also includes a pair of Grade 2, $150,000 nine-furlong events for juveniles in the Remsen and its filly counterpart, the Demoiselle, as well as the Grade 3, $100,000 Go for Wand Handicap for fillies and mares at one mile.

Nedlaw Stable and Tobey L. Morton's promising juvenile filly Secret Love, a $270,000 purchase at the OBS July Two-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale, flourished on debut with a 6 ¼-length romp in a six-furlong maiden sprint against fellow Empire State breds at Belmont Park.

The Not This Time chestnut, out of the A.P. Indy mare Exotic Design, garnered a 62 Beyer Speed Figure for her winning debut. She has breezed twice following her maiden voyage, including a November 1 effort in 50.45 on the Belmont dirt training track.

Kimmel said he had hoped to enter Secret Love in Sunday's Key Cents, but will have to wait for another option for the talented filly.

“Unfortunately, when she broke her maiden she grabbed her quarter and pulled her right front shoe off at the start of the race,” said Kimmel. “So, she ran that race with only three shoes and it took me about three weeks to get it so I could put a quarter patch on it. She missed too much training for me to put her in that race.”

Kimmel will be represented by a strong set of maidens this weekend at the Big A, including a trio on Saturday with Sonic Speed [Race 1], Please the Pharoah [Race 3], and The Reds [Race 5].

Flanagan Racing's Please the Pharoah, a $320,000 OBS March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training purchase out of the stakes winning Doc's Leader mare Please Sign In, will debut in a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden under Hall of Famer John Velazquez.

The Reds, also owned by Flanagan Racing, finished fourth on debut in a 6 ½-furlong maiden sprint after being bumped at the start on September 27. The Kentucky-bred son of Tonalist will have the services of Jose Ortiz on Saturday.

“I'm very excited about the group,” said Kimmel. “I think Please the Pharoah is like most of the “Pharoahs,” it looks like he's a little better on the grass and he's been work company for The Reds a number of different times. I also think The Reds is sitting on a very good performance.”

Anthony and Stephen Mitola's Sonic Speed will look to graduate at third asking in a state-bred outer turf sprint following a close second last out at the same condition under returning rider Velazquez.

Kimmel said he is also excited about the debut of Flanagan Racing's Soupster, a gray daughter of Speightster out of the stakes-winning Alphabet Soup mare Souper Miss.

Purchased for $185,000 at the OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training, Soupster has breezed extensively at Belmont, including a half-mile effort in 48.84 on November 8 on the dirt training track.

“She's a Speightster filly that I think is very nice,” said Kimmel. “She's shown me that she has some talent. She's breezed well, looks good and I'm excited to watch her run.”

The Virginia-bred Soupster, with Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, will travel six furlongs on the Big A main track in Sunday's fourth race.

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