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Welder Gets Chance To Break More Remington Park Records Dec. 19

Two-time Oklahoma Horse of the Year Welder is costing Remington Park a lot of money in ink. Virtually every time he steps on the track at the Oklahoma City, Okla., racetrack, Remington has to re-write its history book.

Such may be the case on Saturday, Dec. 19, when the 7-year-old Oklahoma-bred millionaire gelding will be trying to tie the track record for most career wins at Remington Park – 15. If he wins the $34,000 Guthrie Sprint allowance race on the next-to-last night of racing this meet, he would move into a three-way tie with Highland Ice and Elegant Exxactsy. Each of those horses won 15 times at Remington Park. The Guthrie goes as the eighth race and is scheduled to go to post at 10:23 p.m. Central.

“It would be exciting to tie the win record but I am so happy with everything he has done so far in his career that I'm just pleased he is still running and winning,” said trainer Theresa Sue Luneack said. “Welder is training really well. It was a nice easy workout for him Thursday. He should be happy and ready.”

Welder worked five furlongs over a fast track at Remington Park on Dec. 10 with regular jockey David Cabrera aboard, going in 1:03.47, handily.

The last time Welder raced here, he won the $70,000 Silver Goblin Stakes on Nov. 13. He set a new record in that event, winning his 11th career stakes at Remington, breaking the tie he held with Okie Ride in that category. It was also the 11th stakes win in a row here for the gelded son of The Visualiser, out of the Tiznow mare Dance Softly. That was a record he already owned and was extending.

Here is a quick look at the other records this greased-streak of gray lightning has set along the way under the tutelage of trainer Teri Luneack for owner Ra-Max Farms (Clayton Rash), both of Claremore, Okla.

· Two-time Oklahoma Horse of the Year (2018 & 2019).

· Only horse in Remington Park history (since 1988) that has won back-to-back Horse of the Meet trophies (2018 & 2019).

· Only horse in Remington Park history to win four stakes races in one season (2018).

· Set track record for six furlongs of 1:08.13 in winning the David M. Vance Stakes on Sept. 29, 2019.

· Eleven 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), four wins in the Silver Goblin Stakes, three wins in the Oklahoma Classics Sprint, and two David M. Vance Stakes.

An indication of just how well Luneack has prepared this big-hearted Okie-bred the past couple of years could be seen as far back as the $150,000 Hot Springs Stakes on March 9, 2019, at Oaklawn Park when he ran two lengths behind Whitmore. All Whitmore did was come back and win the 2020 Breeders' Cup Sprint by 3-1/4 lengths. Those two could meet again during the 2021 Oaklawn season next spring.

Welder was made the 6-5 morning line favorite for the Guthrie allowance by Remington Park odds-maker Jerry Shottenkirk. The seven-horse field includes two horses that have actually finished ahead of Welder in the past. That pair – Share the Upside (5-1) and D' Rapper (6-1) – have not, however, beaten Welder on the track he loves the most, Remington Park.

Share the Upside, from Remington Park all-time leading trainer (by wins) Steve Asmussen's barn, also ran in the 2019 Hot Springs Stakes and finished a half-length ahead of Welder for second in that race. D' Rapper last beat Welder this summer by 1 1/4 lengths in the Iowa Sprint Stakes at Prairie Meadows on July 5. Welder beat D' Rapper in the $150,000 David Vance Stakes by 7 3/4 lengths, the last time they went head-to-head at Remington Park, in September 2019.

Welder has started 19 times in Oklahoma City and won 14 of those for $819,859 here. Overall, Welder has won 25 of 37 starts, run second five times and third four times for lifetime earnings of $1,179,018. Luneack found him as a yearling at Center Hills Farms' division in Pryor, Okla., at Mighty Acres and Rash purchased him for $6,400.

If Welder can extend his win records and keep accumulating records, he could be well on his way to his third Oklahoma Horse of the Year and unprecedented third Remington Park Horse of the Meet.

“The prospect of having a third year Horse of the Meet is unimaginable,” said Luneack.

Here's a look at the field in the Guthrie allowance, race eight on Dec. 19, from rail to the outside with horse, trainer, jockey and morning-line odds:

1)    Gordy Florida: Kenny Smith, Richard Eramia, 12-1
2)    Direct Dial: Danny Pish, Lane Luzzi, 9-2
3)    Welder: Teri Luneack, David Cabrera, 6-5 (morning-line favorite)
4)    American Dubai: Clinton Stuart, Ken Tohill, 10-1
5)    Tiz Alluptome Now: Steve Asmussen, Kevin Roman, 8-1
6)    D' Rapper: Oscar Flores, (no rider named), 6-1
7)    Share the Upside: Steve Asmussen, Stewart Elliott, 5-1

Remington Park live racing continues with five more race dates left in this 2020 season. Action resumes Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 14 and 15 with the first race at noon. The final weekend is Friday through Sunday, Dec. 18-20. The first race on Friday night is at 5 p.m., featuring the $200,000 Springboard Mile. The Saturday and Sunday programs each begin at 7:07 p.m. All times are Central.

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Derby Prep: Remington’s Springboard Mile Draws Field Of 11 Juveniles

The $200,000 Springboard Mile, Remington Park's top stakes race for 2-year-olds, drew a field of 11 this morning. The contest will headline a program of 13 races on Friday night, Dec. 18, going as race 12 at approximately 10:28pm. The first race of the evening is at 5pm. All times are Central.

A pair of horses coming out of Breeders' Cup races last month at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. have entered the Springboard. They are the top two in the morning-line odds for the co-richest race of the Remington Park season.

Outadore, third in the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 6, has been tabbed as the morning-line favorite at 3-1 odds. The second horse in the line is Cowan, second in the Grade 2, $1,000,000 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, at odds of 4-1.

Owned by Breeze Easy and trained by Wesley Ward, Outadore will make his first attempt over dirt in the Springboard. All three of his career starts have been on turf. He broke his maiden at Saratoga in July, sprinting 5-1/2 furlongs. A colt by Outwork from the Tactical Cat mare Adore You, Outadore then won the $500,000 Juvenile Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 12 before his third-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Outadore worked a bullet five furlongs this morning at Keeneland, labeled a breeze, in :59.60 over a fast track. Remington Park's leading jockey, David Cabrera, has been named aboard Outadore for the Springboard.

Cowan has five career starts, sharing that distinction with Red N Wild, for the most of the Springboard entrants. Owned by the Houston partnership of William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Madaket Stables and Spendthrift Farm, Cowan is trained by Remington Park's leading all-time trainer Steve Asmussen.

A colt by Kantharos from the Smart Strike mare Tempers Flair, Cowan broke his maiden in his career debut at Churchill Downs in May. He has competed solely in stakes races since that victory and is still in search of his second career score. He ran third behind Outadore in the Juvenile Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs, beaten by five lengths. His following two starts were at Keeneland, finishing second in both the $150,000 Indian Summer Stakes on Oct. 4 and then in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint at 5-1/2 furlongs on Nov. 6.

The Springboard Mile will be the first attempt for Cowan at the distance and his first start back on a main track after three straight in turf stakes. Stewart Elliott, the regular first-call rider at Remington Park for the Asmussen operation, will have the mount on Cowan.

Trainer Brad Cox will try to pull off the 2020 Oklahoma Derby/Springboard Mile double at Remington Park, having won the $200,000 derby in September with Shared Sense. He will look for a knockout effort by sending Joe Frazier into the Springboard, in the first stakes attempt for the colt named after one of the most famous boxers of all-time.

Owned by Ike and Dawn Thrash, Joe Frazier won his career debut, a $150,000 maiden-claiming event at Keeneland, scoring the six-furlong sprint by three lengths. An allowance start going 1-1/16 miles at Churchill Downs on Nov. 22 produced a third-place effort. After leading into the stretch in that two-turn event, Joe Frazier faded late, finishing 6-1/4 lengths back.

Jockey Richard Eramia, who rode Shared Sense to the Oklahoma Derby score for Cox, has been named on Joe Frazier who is at 5-1 odds in the morning-line.

Oklahoma-bred hero Number One Dude is at 6-1 odds in the morning-line and will attempt to remain undefeated in the Springboard, his fourth start of the Remington Park season. Owned by Terry Westemeir of Broken Arrow, Okla. and trained by Kari Craddock, Number One Dude attempts to become the first Oklahoma-bred to win the Springboard since Ted's Folly in 2011.

Number One Dude won his career debut with Oklahoma-bred maiden special weight horses, going 5-1/2 furlongs, winning easily by 7-1/2 lengths on Sept. 18. He was entered in two subsequent stakes races – the $100,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile on Oct. 16 and the $75,000 Don McNeill Stakes on Nov. 13 – and won both of them. The Juvenile was at six furlongs for Oklahoma-breds and he finished one length ahead at the wire. Number One Dude then raced around two turns for the first time, blowing his competition away by six lengths at the Springboard Mile distance on a muddy track in the McNeill.

Jockey Ezequiel Lara has the mount on Number One Dude who also makes his first career attempt outside of the state-bred ranks.

Outadore is the top earner in the Springboard Mile with $424,100 from his three attempts. Number One Dude leads the field with three career wins.

The field for the Springboard Mile, by program and post-position order, with trainer, jockey and morning-line odds:

1. Senor Buscador: Todd Fincher, Luis Quinonez, 15-1

2. Number One Dude: Kari Craddock, Ezequiel Lara, 6-1

3. Vim And Vigor: Larry Stroope, Walter De La Cruz, 20-1

4. Gushing Oil: Danny Pish, Lane Luzzi, 15-1

5. Red N Wild: Terry Eoff, Sophie Doyle, 12-1

6. Game Day Play: Bret Calhoun, Lindey Wade, 10-1

7. Saffa's Day: Steve Asmussen, Iram Diego, 10-1

8. Cowan: Steve Asmussen, Stewart Elliott, 4-1

9. Outadore: Wesley Ward, David Cabrera, 3-1 (morning-line favorite)

10. Joe Frazer: Brad Cox, Richard Eramia, 5-1

11. Flash Of Mischief: Karl Broberg, Ramon Vazquez, 15-1

The Springboard will carry qualifying points for the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Long Range Toddy gained 10 points in the 2018 Springboard Mile and earned his way into the Kentucky Derby field in 2019.

The Springboard Mile program begins with a twilight 5pm-Central first-race. The other five stakes events on the program include:

Race 8 – $75,000 She's All In Stakes, fillies and mares, 3 and up, 1 mile-70yards

Race 9 – $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes, 3-year-old Oklahoma-breds, 1 mile

Race 10 – $70,000 Useeit Stakes, 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred fillies, 1 mile

Race 11 – $60,000 Trapeze Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 1 mile

Race 13 – $60,000 Jeffrey Hawk Memorial, 3-year-olds and up, 1 mile-70 yards

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Derby Prep: Undefeated Hometown Hero Number One Dude Tops Nominees To Springboard Mile

Locally undefeated hometown hero Number One Dude was one of 35 horses nominated to race in the $200,000 Springboard Mile on Friday, Dec. 18, as well as four horses that ran in Breeders' Cup races.

The Springboard Mile is the cornerstone race for 2-year-old Thoroughbreds annually at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, and carries important Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the 2021 start of the Triple Crown series. Horses running first through fourth place in the Springboard Mile accumulate points (10-4-2-1). Long Range Toddy gained 10 points in the 2018 Springboard Mile and earned his way into the Kentucky Derby field.

The race has been won by the nation's leading trainer, Steve Asmussen, six times since its inception in 2001. Jockeys of national acclaim pepper the history of the Springboard with victories, riders such as Victor Espinoza, Luis Saez, Ricardo Santana, Miguel Mena, Brian Hernandez, Jon Court and Jeremy Rose. Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Famer and Remington Park's all-time leading jockey Cliff Berry (2,125 wins here) has won the Springboard the most with three victories.

“We knew Remington Park would draw the very best 2-year-olds for the Springboard Mile,” said owner-breeder of Number One Dude, Terry Westemeir of Broken Arrow, Okla. “Having one (horse) to nominate in good faith for the race is like living the dream right now.”

Westemeir utilizes the services of trainer Kari Craddock for this horse, and jockey Ezekiel Lara has ridden him in two of his three wins.

“Kari will have him well prepared and Dude will be game,” said Westemeir.

Number One Dude broke his maiden with Oklahoma-bred maiden special weight horses, going 5-1/2 furlongs, winning easily by 7-1/2 lengths on Sept. 18. He was entered in two subsequent stakes races – the $100,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile on Oct. 16 and the $75,000 Don McNeill Stakes on Nov. 13 – and won both of them. The Juvenile was at six furlongs for Oklahoma-breds and he finished one length ahead at the wire. Richard Eramia rode him to that win when Lara was sidelined with a minor injury. When Number One Dude raced around two turns for the first time, he blew them away by six lengths at the Springboard Mile distance on a muddy track.

A start in the Springboard Mile would be the first outside of Oklahoma-bred company for Number One Dude.

The four horses nominated for the Springboard coming from the Breeders' Cup races are:

· Cowan, second-place runner in the Grade 2, $1 million BC Juvenile Turf Sprint, owner William and Corinne Heligbrodt, Madaket Stables and Spendthrift Farm.

· Outadore, third-place finisher in the Grade1, $1 million BC Juvenile Turf, owner Breeze Easy, trainer Wesley Ward.

· Sittin On Go, ninth in the Grade 1, $2 million BC Juvenile, after winning the Grade 3, $200,000 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs, owned by Albaugh Family Stables and trained by Dale Romans.

· Camp Hope, a Churchill Downs maiden winner that ran 12th of 14 in the BC Juvenile, owned by Walking L Thoroughbreds, trained by Ken McPeek.

The noms also include local stakes winner Game Day Play, winner of the $60,000 Clever Trevor Stakes here on Oct. 30 at seven furlongs. He is owned by Tom Durant and trained by Bret Calhoun. Lindey Wade rode him to victory in that stakes race.

Brad Cox, second-leading trainer in the country behind Asmussen in money earned, has the most horses nominated with five – Caddo River, Gagetown, Inspector Frost, Joe Frazier and Swill. Asmussen's horses have earned a little more than $19 million this year while Cox runners have garnered $18 million-plus.

The Springboard Mile will headline a stakes-laden card on Dec. 18. Also on tap that night:

– $75,000 She's All In Stakes, older fillies & mares, 1 mile-70 yards

– $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes, 3-year-old Oklahoma-breds, 1 mile

– $70,000 Useeit Stakes, 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred fillies, 1 mile

– $60,000 Trapeze Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 1 mile

– $60,000 Jeffrey Hawk Memorial, 3-year-olds and up, 1 mile-70 yards

Remington Park racing continues Friday and Saturday, Dec. 11 & 12 with the first race nightly at 7:07pm-Central.

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Oklahoma Legend Highland Ice, 27, Passes: ‘The Iceman’ Won 15 Of 16 At Remington Park

Highland Ice could light up the track with his racing brilliance; this shooting star of a racehorse faded away Wednesday night, passing from this world at the age of 27.

The brilliant record-breaking sprinter, who won 15 of his 16 races lifetime at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla., was treated with kindness and care by the Oklahoma Thoroughbred Retirement Program and under the watchful eye of his caretaker Royce Clay, who pampered him to his final day. “He will forever be in our hearts and we will miss him dearly,” the OTRP posted on its Facebook page.

A gelded son of Highland Blade, by the Icecapade mare Ice Magic, Highland Ice was known as “The Iceman.” He treated his competition like he had ice in his veins, showing them no mercy. Racing from 1995-2001, Highland Ice had 48 starts, 16 wins, nine seconds and eight thirds for $474,090 earned lifetime.

Highland Ice, a dazzling gray/roan, was bred by legendary horseman Walter Merrick of Sayre, Okla., and was purchased at sale as a 2-year-old by Gerald Dixon of Guymon, Okla., for $5,500. Dixon sent him to the barn of trainer Chuck Turco, who also conditioned Dazzling Falls, winner of the Remington Park Derby (now the Oklahoma Derby), the Arkansas Derby and the Alabama Derby in 1995.

Highland Ice was as good a sprinter as Dazzling Falls was a classic-distance horse. Among his accolades were victories ranging from five to seven furlongs, including stakes triumphs at six and seven furlongs. His first stakes attempt came in the $50,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile in 1995, winning by a head.

Taking his picture in the winner's circle after stakes races became the norm for Highland Ice as he won the $50,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint in 1996 as a 3-year-old. That effort had mouths dropping as he set a half-mile fraction of :43 3/5 for the half-mile. When he won the Oklahoma Classics Sprint in 1998, he stopped the timer in 1:08.20, believed to be the true track record at Remington Park for years, before two-time Horse of the Year Welder bettered that by a fraction in 1:08.13 in 2019. That's how amazing Highland Ice was.

Highland Ice stakes wins came in:

· The Remington Park Sprint Championship in 1997-98 (6 furlongs)

· The Silver Bullet Centennial Handicap in 1997-98 at Remington (7 furlongs)

· The Oklahoma Classics Sprint in 1996-1999 (6 furlongs)

The 1999 Oklahoma Classics Sprint was the last of four wins in that race and the last of his stakes victories in his career. He won five Oklahoma Classics stakes races in his career against fellow Oklahoma-breds.

“He had a presence about him like no other horse I've ever ridden,” said jockey Glen Murphy, who rode Highland Ice in 19 races, more than any other rider. “He knew he was fast.”

In the 1998 Silver Bullet Centennial Handicap at Remington Park, he finished a length in front of Chindi, who became a millionaire in his career before retiring. Highland Ice's only victory outside of Oklahoma was in a second-level allowance at Oaklawn Park. The final race of his career came on the Fourth of July in an optional $40,000 claiming-allowance race at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, running fifth.

Highland Ice in retirement

Highland Ice was voted the Remington Park Horse of the Meet in 1997, when the Oklahoma-bred proved he was more than merely a state-bred champion. When he won the Remington Park Sprint Championship and Silver Bullet Centennial Handicap, both races were for open company. He also bagged the Oklahoma Classics Sprint that year. He won the same three stakes events in 1998, but was edged out for Champion Horse of the Meet by Brush With Pride. Highland Ice did win Champion Sprinter that year.

When he retired in 2001, Highland Ice shared the records for Remington Park victories with 15, sharing the mark with Elegant Exxactsy. The all-time Remington Park win record has stood the test of time, holding up as the standard now with only Welder approaching it some 20 years later. In 2001, nine stakes wins were the most by any horse at Remington Park, the record was held by Highland Ice and Darrell Darrell. Okie Ride managed to break that mark when he won his 10^th local stakes in 2016. Welder took over the record during the current 2020 season, moving the total to 11 stakes won in Oklahoma City.

At Remington Park, Highland Ice's record was 24 starts, 15 wins, five seconds and two thirds for $390,810. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.

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