For Immediate Release
Monday, December 19, 2011
Ted’s Folly Unanimous Choice for Remington Park Horse of the Meeting
OKLAHOMA CITY – An undefeated 2011 Thoroughbred Season at Remington Park has earned Ted’s Folly the top honor of Horse of the Meeting in balloting by media and track management. The 2-year-old posted six straight wins including his biggest score, the $315,000 Springboard Mile on the final night of the meeting.
Owned by Steve Martin of Morrison, Okla. and trained by Wilson Brown of Jones, Okla., Ted’s Folly was ridden in all of his Remington Park starts by Jose Medina. The 2-year-old began the season by breaking his maiden status on the Opening Night of the session, Aug. 18, against Oklahoma-breds. He then posted victories in open company allowance events before beginning a run of stakes wins.
Ted’s Folly won the $79,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile in October and the $50,000 Oklahoma Stallion Stakes in November before taking the biggest race for 2-year-olds, the Springboard Mile, on Dec. 10 as the only Oklahoma-bred in the field.
Ted’s Folly, by Wild Tale from the Sword Dance (Ire) mare Tricksword, was also voted the Champion 2-year-old Male (unanimously) and the Champion Oklahoma-bred for the season.
Champion 2-year-old Female
The only other athlete to be honored with a unanimous vote was Now I Know. The Oklahoma-bred filly is owned by the Hot Springs, Ark. partnership of Wayne Stockseth and Don Von Hemel. Jockey Perry Compton was up for all mounts on the gray filly, also trained by Von Hemel.
Now I Know, a daughter of Pure Prize from the Maria’s Mon mare Now U Know, was outstanding in all of her efforts this season. She broke her maiden against Oklahoma-bred fillies on Aug. 24 before winning an open company allowance in mid-September. After defeating state-breds in allowance company on Oct. 12, she came back on Oct. 28 in the $81,000 Oklahoma Classics Lassie to cruise to a 9-1/2 length triumph.
The sky may be the limit for Now I Know as she posted another big win after leaving Remington Park, gaining the Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Downs Princess Stakes in mid-November. She will begin her 3-year-old campaign perfect through five career attempts.
Champion Older Male, Champion Turf Performer
Skip A Smile was the only other horse aside from Ted’s Folly to be voted a champion in multiple categories. Owned by Rose Mary Chandler of Cibolo, Texas and trained by Steve Asmussen, Skip A Smile was an immediate force early in the Remington Park season.
A 4-year-old Texas-bred gelding by Skip Away from the Strawberry Road (Aus) mare Strawberry Smile, Skip A Smile won the $100,000 Governor’s Cup on the main track on Aug. 20 and then followed that with a victory in the $100,000 DeBartolo Memorial over the turf on Sept. 2. After running second to Cherokee Lord in the $125,000 Remington Green Stakes in October, he won his third race of the season in allowance company over the turf in mid-November.
Jockey Luis Quinonez was up for four of the Remington Park attempts this fall for Skip A Smile.
Champion 3-year-old Male
Victory in the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby in October was enough to earn top 3-year-old Male honors for Redeemed. Owned by Jay Em Ess Stable of Santa Monica, Calif. and trained by Anthony Dutrow, Redeemed was ridden to his Oklahoma Derby win by National Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado.
A Virginia-bred colt by Include from the Pleasant Tap mare Early Mass, Redeemed moved on from his Oklahoma Derby win to win the Grade 3, $100,000 Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct in mid-November.
Champion 3-year-old Female
Tourmaline broke her maiden as a 2-year-old in her career debut at Remington Park in 2010. That race was her one and only effort at age 2. Her 3-year-old season managed to take her to seven different racetracks before she returned to Oklahoma City for the $250,000 Remington Park Oaks on Oct. 16. She won the race to stay undefeated locally for her Shawnee, Okla. owners Mike Walker and Wayne Ukens.
Trained by Bernell Rhone and ridden in the Oaks score by Dean Butler, Tourmaline closed with a rush to win by a half-length. A Florida-bred daughter of Kafwain from the Kris S. mare Career Time, Tourmaline added the Remington Park Oaks to previous oaks wins at Canterbury Park in Minnesota and Assiniboia Downs in Manitoba, Canada.
Champion Older Female
She’s All In won three of four races at Remington Park during the season, posting the victories in successive fashion to wrap up her campaign. Owned by Robert Zoellner of Tulsa, Okla. and trained by Donnie Von Hemel, She’s All In won an allowance and two stakes events versus Oklahoma-bred rivals to earn the award.
A 4-year-old Oklahoma-bred filly by Include from the Hickory Ridge mare Georgia OK, She’s All In was ridden in all of her Remington Park outs this year by Glen Murphy. Her stakes wins came in the $129,000 Oklahoma Classics Distaff and the $50,000 Ladies On The Lawn Stakes. She won both races for the second year in a row.
In her career, She’s All In has 10 victories with six of them taking place at Remington Park.
Champion Sprinter
Millionaire Ravalo brought his traveling show to Remington Park for the $200,000 Sprint Cup on Opening Weekend, scoring by a half-length under jockey Jeffrey Sanchez. The race in Oklahoma City was his fourth start of the year, at as many different racetracks in as many different stakes.
Owned by Lindy Redding of Glen Burnie, Md. and trained by Donald Barr, Ravalo made amends for his previous start in the Sprint Cup when he finished third in 2009. A Kentucky-bred 7-year-old gelding by Mutakddim from the Southern Halo mare Momentary Hope, Ravalo has won 17 career races from 48 attempts and boasts lifetime earnings of more than $1.2 million.
Champion Claimer
Bold Minardi was honored in the claiming category, based on his three local wins this season, all at the $10,000-claiming level. The 5-year-old gelding was also claimed twice this season.
Bold Minardi won two of his races at six furlongs and the other at 6-1/2 furlongs. He posted victory for two different owners and trainers in his Remington Park success this season. A Texas-bred son of Minardi from the Marquetry mare Bold Conquistadora, Bold Minardi was ridden in his Remington Park wins by Ken Tohill, Perry Compton and Alex Birzer.
Owner Bobby Hammer of Elmore City, Okla. had the first two wins with Bold Minardi while trained by Chris Hartman. The Southern Okie Boys of Enid, Okla. enjoyed one win with him while trained by Roger Engel.
Pat Steinberg Award
Jockey Cliff Berry secured his 14th Pat Steinberg Award on Saturday night, winning one race to put his season total at 68 victories. The Steinberg Award denotes the leading rider for the Thoroughbred Season and is named after the late rider who dominated the early years of Remington Park racing before his passing in 1993.
Berry, a Jones, Okla. resident, has won two consecutive Steinberg Awards. He finished three wins ahead of Luis Quinonez who came into the final night of racing with an opportunity to win his second Steinberg. Lindey Wade, a newcomer to the Oklahoma City riding colony, enjoyed a fine season with 46 wins for third place.
Chuck Taliaferro Award
Trainer Steve Asmussen was shutout from the winner’s circle on Saturday night but had clinched his eighth Remington Park training title before the night had started with an even 50 winners, 17 ahead of runner-up Chris Hartman.
Asmussen, from Arlington, Texas, has now won five consecutive training titles at Remington Park dating to the 2007 season. He won his very first seasonal training title at Remington Park in 1991. Asmussen’s career has flourished since, becoming a national operation with horses competing simultaneously at many tracks across North America. He posted his 6,000th career win earlier this meeting when Basalt, sixth in the Springboard Mile, won in November.
Trainer Roger Engel was third in the standings with 26 wins.
The Taliaferro Award is named after the late trainer who passed in 1994 after a long career at tracks across the country, including a young Remington Park in his home state.
Ran Ricks Award
The leading owner title, the Ran Ricks, Jr. Award, is shared for the third consecutive Thoroughbred Season as Danny Caldwell of Poteau, Okla. and Black Hawk Stable of Elk City, Okla. each finished the season with 18 wins.
Caldwell won his third owning title while Black Hawk Stable won for the first time. The Ricks Award is named after the late owner and breeder who passed in 1996 after years of working to bring pari-mutuel racing to Oklahoma. Ricks won a total of seven owner championships at his home track of Remington Park.
Caldwell is the last owner to claim the Ricks Award alone, doing so in 2008 when he won for the first time.
Live racing is now on hiatus at Remington Park until the beginning of the 2012 American Quarter Horse & Mixed-breed Season on March 2.
Open daily at 10am for casino gaming and simulcast racing, Remington Park also features the Bricktown Brewery on the casino floor, open daily at 11am. Admission, general parking and valet parking are always free at Remington Park.
Remington Park is Oklahoma City’s only Racetrack & Casino, located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District. For more information, reservations and group bookings please call 405-424-1000, 866-456-9880 or visit remingtonpark.com.
For more
information, contact:
Dale Day
405-425-3215, 405-326-7496 (m)