BATON WILL FINALLY BE PASSED THIS YEAR IN $70,000 SILVER GOBLIN STAKES WITH REMINGTON’S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST HORSE, WELDER, RETIRED
For the first time since 2016 there will be a new horse rewarded with the Silver Goblin Stakes trophy on Friday, Nov. 12.
Remington Park’s all-time winningest horse, Welder, has won the race the past four years for owner Ra-Max Farms (Clayton Rash) of Claremore, Okla., three times for trainer Teri Luneack.
The 8-year-old gelding who retired on Oct. 15 with 16 wins at Remington Park and 27 overall has won the Silver Goblin Stakes a record number of times, one ahead of Okie Ride. This year, there were 20 nominations to the 6-1/2 furlong race, including the horse that beat Welder in the final race of his career. The race is written for 3-year-olds-and-older that are Oklahoma foals. Shannon C won the Oklahoma Classics Sprint on Oct. 15 and Welder ran third.
Shannon C had been beaten by Welder four times in his career before winning the Oklahoma Classics Sprint, but the fifth time was the charm. The 6-year-old gelded son of Latent Heat, out of the Fistfite mare Miranda Diane, is owned by B and S Racing (Robert Smith) of Springfield, Mo., and trained by Scott Young. He was ridden to his Classics win by Leandro Goncalves.
Shannon C could very well be the heir apparent to picking up the dropped baton. He is on a two-stakes win streak, having taken the $70,000 Remington Park Turf Sprint on Sept. 3. He could easily be the favorite in the Silver Goblin off those consecutive stakes wins.
“Shannon has been an iron horse from Day One,” said Young. “The Classics win was his day. It took a while but he showed why Bob and Ted (Bozarth and Smith) breed horses to Miranda Diane. It’s come full circle now. He got that Oklahoma Classics win that we’ve been shooting for, for what? The past four years.”
Shannon C drew away impressively at the end, winning by three lengths at 5-1 odds. Young ran 1-2 in the race as Mesa Moon held off Welder by one length. The trainer has also nominated Mesa Moon for owner Cimarron TTT Farms (Marvin Triplett) of Edmond, Okla. Mesa Moon was three lengths back of his stablemate in the Oklahoma Classics Sprint at 6 furlongs.
Shannon C earned $78,000 for the win and improved to 27 starts, seven wins, 11 seconds and two thirds for $368,766 in earnings.
Another multiple stakes winner that figures to vie for favoritism, if he should hit the entry box of this race, is Quality Rocket. He was soundly defeated in seventh in the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Turf on Oct. 15, after winning it last year and taking the Red Earth Stakes two years in a row on the turf. His talents go far beyond routing on the grass, however. He has won the Route 66 Stakes at Fair Meadows in Tulsa, Okla., two years in a row on the dirt at the distance for the Silver Goblin Stakes.
Quality Rocket, a 7-year-old gelded son of Backstabber, out of the King of Scat mare, has an impressive lifetime record of 36 starts, 11 wins, nine seconds and one third for $409,006 in earnings. If he were to go in the Silver Goblin, he would be the top money earner. That’s not too shabby for a horse that had been put in for a $7,500 claiming tag three races in a row in the early part of his career. He is owned by Jeremy Ball of Shawnee, Okla., trained by Boyd “Jobe” Caster. Ramon Vazquez has been in the saddle for his last two stakes tries.
The record time for the Silver Goblin is 1:15, set by Zee Oh Six in 2005, the first year of the race named for one of the greatest Oklahoma-breds in history. Silver Goblin is seventh among Okie-breds in lifetime money earned with $1,083,895. He is behind Kip Deville ($3,325,489), Lady’s Secret ($3,021,325), Shotgun Kowboy ($1,548,684), Clever Trevor ($1,388,841), Welder ($1,263,359), and She’s All In ($1,102,489). Silver Goblin had 26 career starts with 16 wins, four seconds and three thirds from 1993-99. He will long be remembered for running second to Cigar in the 1995 Oaklawn Handicap at Hot Springs, Ark. Cigar was in the middle of a 16-race win streak. Cigar won just short of $10 million in his career.
Racing continues next week with a Wednesday-Saturday night schedule. First post time is 7:07 p.m.
Tracked by more than 167,000 fans on Facebook and 10,400 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $272 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 is home for the $400,000 Springboard Mile on Friday, Dec. 17. Simulcast horse racing featured daily, the casino is always open! Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
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