The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby leads a stakes-filled program of racing at Remington Park on Sunday, Sept. 25. The nominations for the derby have closed with 39 eligible 3-year-olds on the list for the 1-1/8 miles race.
Texas Chrome, winner of the Grade 3 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs, is expected to bid for his second straight derby score. Owned by Keene Thoroughbreds of Greenville, Texas, and trained by J.R. Caldwell, Texas Chrome has been in training at Remington Park since July. The colt by Grasshopper has won seven of his 12 career starts, finishing worse than third only once. The Texas-bred has career earnings of $602,462.
Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen has placed four nominees for the Oklahoma Derby, including Cupid, who most recently won the Grade 2 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer in early August. The Tapit colt also won the Grade 2 Indiana Derby in July and the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in March.
Discreetness, winner of the 2015 Springboard Mile at Remington Park, is also on the Oklahoma Derby list. He won the Smarty Jones Stakes in January at Oaklawn in the next start following his Springboard triumph. Discreetness has all fees paid to the Oklahoma Derby by virtue of his win in Remington Park’s top 2-year-old stakes race a year ago.
The Oklahoma Derby leads a program that will carry total purses of more than $1.4 million on Sept. 25. The special Sunday race card will begin at 3pm-Central.
More information on the Oklahoma Derby field, and the other stakes races on the undercard which include the Remington Park Oaks, the Governor’s Cup, the Remington Green and the Kip Deville Stakes among others, will be forthcoming as the prospective fields begin to take shape. The entries for the Oklahoma Derby Day race card will be taken in the racing office on Thursday, Sept. 22.
(from Remington Park news release)