Remington Park's thoroughbred season begins

Eleven thoroughbred horses break out of the gate at Remington Park as they start their trek to the finish line.

Stewart Elliott is making his Oklahoma debut, but he won’t be on a stage.

He’ll be on the back of a horse at Remington Park.

Elliott is the 2004 Kentucky Derby winner, having taken Smarty Jones across the finish line at Churchill Downs. He won with Smarty Jones at the Preakness that year, but missed winning the Triple Crown.

He said riding in Oklahoma City this fall will be a good path to spring racing at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Arkansas Derby winner usually goes on to compete – and often win – the Kentucky Derby.

“It’s a pretty good little track,” Elliott said about Remington. “The money’s decent and there are good trainers here.”

Elliott already plans to ride in five races on Friday when the season opens. He’ll be in races in the following week as well. He didn’t come here with a specific trainer or barn.

“I don’t have any commitments with anyone,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep working and ride for everyone.”

Seeing this level of jockey come to Oklahoma City speaks to the quality of horsemen and women that are at the track, said Scott Wells, president and general manager of Remington Park. The first race on Friday will have a horse that ran second in the 2017 Kentucky Derby, Looking at Lee, with other hall of fame trainers and jockeys competing as well.

Looking At Lee was trained by Steve Asmussen, whose name often appears on the trainer list at the Kentucky Derby. He’s returning to Remington Park this fall.

He’s the leading living trainer, meaning he’s won more races than any trainer alive. His first victory was at Remington, where he’s only the second winningest trainer, with about 60 wins to go before he catches the leader Donnie Von Hemel.

The horse and trainer superiority has steadily increased since voters approved State Question 720, as predicted, said Wells. The law change allowed the track to operate a casino with money from the casino going to horse winnings, or purses as they’re called in the industry. When there’s more money to win, better trainers bring their horses. With Remington’s season being in the fall, trainers often come to see what else their horses can win before turning a year older on January 1.

The overall track quality, purses, and other assets helped get Remington Park ranked above several other top tracks in the annual rankings by the Horse Players Association of North America.

A tight pack comes down the finish line at Remington Park.

And when there’s more horses in the races, more people place their money on the horses, which helps Oklahoma’s education budget. During the 2018 season, betting was up 7.4% compared to the 2017 season. A majority of that increase came from people who were not physically at the track to bet on the races. The park saw a 7.6% increase in off-track betters. There are seven off-track betting locations in Oklahoma and dozens more outside state lines.

Betters are attracted to Remington’s races because the field size is 9.01 horses per race, which is higher than the national average of seven horses per race, Wells said. When there are more horses in a race, then more people want to bet because there are bigger payouts.

The uptick in betting meant Remington Park was able to make its largest contribution ever to the state’s education budget, totaling more than $26 million. Since the park’s casino opened in 2005, Remington has contributed $225 million to the state’s education coffers.

But trainers finishing out one horse’s year aren’t the only folks in the barns. Remington’s racing series for two-year-old horses ends with the Springboard Mile. The Springboard is part of the Kentucky Derby Prep Races, a race series where competitors earn points to compete at the Kentucky Derby. The 2018 Springboard winner, Long Range Toddy, competed in the 2019 Kentucky Derby and was in the kerfuffle that ended with the winner being disqualified. Toddy is trained by Asmussen, who is bringing the horse back to run at Remington this season.

The other races in the two-year-old series are the Kip Deville Stakes and the Clevor Trevor Stakes. Wells said he’s hopeful that soon the Springboard winner will get the bigger victory.

“We got close last year and the year before,” he said. “We’re going to see one of those horses wearing the roses in May.”

Friday isn’t the only exciting day to come out to the park this season. On Sunday, horses won’t be racing; rather, people’s dogs will take to the track at the annual Remington Bark event.

Next month, on Sept. 29, horses will compete in the $400,000 Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby. The day will be packed with fanfare, such as a hat and bowtie contest and other festivities.

The Springboard Mile is set for Dec. 15. There’s also live racing every week, starting on Wednesday nights.

Friday will be Wells’ 50th opening night and he said he still gets butterflies, but he’s excited about another season and how the park has continued to be a destination in the industry.

“Oklahoma is recognized as a major racing state because of Remington,” he said.