AWESOME VIEW PULLS OFF HUGE UPSET IN FEATURED RACE AGAINST LAST YEAR’S HERITAGE PLACE JUVENILE STAKES WINNER

It was supposed to be a successful reunion for FDD Cloud, who was last seen at Remington Park winning the $100,000 Heritage Place Juvenile Stakes last year, but a 30-1 longshot named Awesome View had other plans.

There was a good reason the public sent FDD Cloud off as the 8-5 wagering favorite. The 3-year-old gelding had won two of three starts at Remington Park, including the stakes win and was beaten only 1-1/4 lengths in third against the eventual $1.1 million Heritage Place Futurity winner Tres Crystals in the trials last May. The race Thursday night was an allowance for American Quarter Horses, 3-year-olds and older that had never won three races lifetime, quite a drop in class for the favorite.

Meanwhile, Awesome View, a gelded son of Hes Relentless had never won or run second at the 400-yard distance of the allowance feature. Trainer Michelle Hurdle had the longshot ready to fire on this night and jockey Javier Hernandez-Gallardo rode him impeccably to a neck victory over 21-1 longshot King of Woodbridge. FDD Cloud could only manage a seventh-place finish in his first race of the year after being laid off since July 24 last summer.

Hernandez-Gallardo popped him out on top and Awesome View returned to his former form flying to the wire in 20.172 seconds for a speed index of 81. He was bumped slightly, but overcame that problem in a hurry, going wire-to-wire in this 400-yard event. He paid $63.60 to win, $27 to place and $11.80 to show.

With the two longshots running first-second in this race, it lit the toteboard like the Fourth of July. The $2 exacta returned $672.80. With Paint Your Lips P (7-2) getting up for third place, another three-quarters length back in third, the 50-cent trifecta paid a whopping $904.15. Good Knight Country (9-1) finished fourth, another nose behind, and the 10-cent superfecta was worth $2,411.63.

It was Awesome View’s second win in only five starts at Remington Park. He had won an allowance for non-winners of two races last May 12 in Oklahoma City. He did have some black type on his resume, also, winning the $60,000 Will Rogers Downs Juvenile Challenge as a 2-year-old on Oct. 3, 2021.

Awesome View, now a 4-year-old gelding from the Ivory James mare Ivory Key, pocketed $17,559 from the $29,825 purse and improved his record lifetime to 11 starts, three wins, one second and three thirds for a bankroll of $80,054 for owners Karen and Joe Williams of Broken Arrow, Okla. Awesome View is an Oklahoma home-bred for the owners.

Awesome View was a bad actor with some bad luck his past three races, however, helping to drive his odds higher. He had excuses for running sixth and seventh in his past two starts. This horse had been in so much trouble that he virtually had to post bail to get out of his stall for this race. Last time out on Nov. 5 at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., he broke very tardy behind the field and finished 3-1/2 lengths behind the winner at the wire in sixth. Prior to that on Oct. 2, also at WRD, he was the 3-2 betting favorite in the $49,000 Adequan Will Rogers Derby Challenge on Oct. 2 and was squeezed back as the gates opened and never had a chance. He ran seventh in that race and those were the two fiascos he had faced coming into Thursday night’s race. Three races back he had bobbled, breaking from the starting gate, and ran third.

Remington Park racing continues Friday-Sunday, April 14-16. The first post nightly is 6pm, except Sunday when action begins at 4pm. All times are Central.

Tracked by more than 174,000 fans on Facebook and 10,700 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $317 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park features the 2023 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa season through June 3. Remington Park presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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