With the Sunday stakes races on the major racing circuits as unappetizing as a plate of regurgitated gruel, we’re going off the beaten for today’s action, to Remington Park in Oklahoma City, where the Oklahoma Derby headlines a terrific 12-race card. We have plays in three of those races, all stakes, and we expect fast dirt and firm turf in all three. Let’s go.
Remington Park, Race 8, 7:36 pm ET
$75,000 Ricks Memorial Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Turf, Fillies & Mares 3 & Up
Nine turf females line up for the Ricks Memorial. Partly because of the size of the field, but mostly because of the traits of the horses comprising it, we see a swift early pace, which makes the pick the stretch-running 4-Cha Cha Mission, who comes into this race in good form, having won an allowance race on this Remington Park turf course a month ago. She will face tougher competition today, but offsetting that is the fact that we think the race shape should be more in her favor than it was in her last. Look for Cha Cha Mission to be well back early, and rolling late; we will bet her to win at 8-1. The bet: Remington Park, Race 8, $40 to win on 4-Cha Cha Mission.
Remington Park, Race 9, 8:08 pm ET
Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks, 1 1/16 miles, Dirt, 3-Year-Old Fillies
Eight sophomore fillies go in the Remington Park Oaks. The prohibitive favorite, at 1/2 on the morning line and very possibly shorter when the gates open, is 5-Juju’s Map, who was excellent last year, but who in our opinion has been nowhere near as good this season, as a 3-year-old, than she was last year at 2. In this spot, she looks like a mammoth underlay to us, which would continue a trend, as she was the odds-on favorite in each of her last two starts, both of which she lost.
We see a contested pace early, as Juju’s Map has speed, and so do a couple of the entrants, and we think that will play right into the wheelhouse of 8-My Friend Amy, who will be finishing strongly when the pacesetters are gasping for air. We will bet on the upset, and that My Friend Amy is able to pull it off: we will play her to win. The bet: Remington Park, Race 9, $40 to win on 8-My Friend Amy.
Remington Park, Race 11, 9:14 pm ET
Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby, 1 ⅛ miles, Dirt, 3-Year-Olds
We are a fan of any kind of Derby you can name, and today’s Oklahoma Derby, which goes off as Race 11 on the card at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, is a good one, with a pretty evenly matched field of eight 3-year-old colts. We’re all in on 4-Best Actor, a Brad Cox trainee who comes off a very sharp win in the Grade 3 Smarty Jones at Parx on August 23. It took this guy a while to get going – he didn’t make his first start until April – but he has done a lot right since, and the pace and speed figures he earned winning the Smarty Jones point to the fact that Best Actor is simply better than his rivals. Look for him to press the pace early, and to roll late; we will bet him to win at 9/5. The bet: Remington Park, Race 11, $50 to win on 4-Best Actor.
That’s all for today. Until the next time, enjoy the racing, be safe, and, as alway, good luck at the windows.