Oklahoma-bred Welder Wins Highland Ice Stakes at Will Rogers

Welder (Photo by Coady Photography)

Winning his third straight race and seventh of 11 career starts, Oklahoma-bred Welder drew clear to a two-length win in Tuesday’s $51,500 Highland Ice Stakes at Will Rogers Downs. The 4-year-old gelding ran six furlongs in 1:09.83 with Travis Cunningham in the saddle for trainer Theresa Luneack and owner Ra-Max Farms LLC. Welder was bred by Center Hills Farm and sired by The Visualiser, a Giant’s Causeway stallion standing as property of Center Hills at Mighty Acres in Pryor, Oklahoma.

Welder, the 2016 Horse of the Meet at Will Rogers, has only finished off the board once in his career with a record of 11-7-1-2 and earnings of $210,151. This marked his second stakes win and first against open company after winning the TRAO Classic Sprint Stakes for state-breds last year.

The Highland Ice Stakes is named for the top Oklahoma-bred in the 1990s who won 16 of 48 starts and nearly $500,000 with much of his success coming at Remington Park.