DIRECT DIAL CONTINUES WIN STREAK TO THREE RACES IN FEATURED ALLOWANCE RACE

Direct Dial may have switched barns, but he didn’t forget how to get to the winner’s circle, running his winning streak to three races in a row, taking the featured allowance on Monday afternoon at Remington Park.

Direct Dial won two stakes races in June and July at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, running for the barn of leading trainer at Remington Park, Steve Asmussen. When Direct Dial came back to the track on Monday after four months off, he was running for trainer Danny Pish. This 5-year-old son of Too Much Bling, out of the Mineshaft mare Fast Find, won by 2-1/4 lengths in a stakes-caliber race as the longest shot on the board in the five-horse field at 5-1 odds.

With jockey Lane Luzzi on the winner, he sat just off the front-running Shannon C for the first half of the six-furlong race and then exploded to the lead at the top of the stretch. He held off the horse that was running with him virtually every step of the race, Tiz Alluptome Now (2-1), out of the Asmussen barn to get the victory. D’ Rapper (7-2) was third, another 3-1/4 lengths back of the runner-up. The 9-5 betting favorite, Miltontown, never was a factor in this race and finished last. Shannon C was fourth, just one length ahead of Miltontown, his stablemate in the barn of trainer Scott Young.

Direct Dial, a Texas-bred, campaigned by owner-breeder W.S. Farish of Versailles, Ky., had won the $75,000 Spirit of Texas Stakes on June 14 and the $75,000 Wayne Hawks Memorial Stakes on July 22 at Lone Star Park. He was the heavy 1-5 favorite in the July triumph. Both stakes wins were in company against fellow Texas-breds.

Tiz Alluptome Now has plenty of stakes experience, including a second-place finish to two-time Oklahoma Horse of the Year, Welder, in the $150,000 David M. Vance Stakes on Sept. 29, 2019, 3-1/4 lengths back of that legendary Oklahoma-bred.

D’ Rapper is a multiple-stakes winner, having taken the $50,000 Iowa Sprint Stakes on July 5 at Prairie Meadows in Iowa, finishing 1-1/4 lengths ahead of Welder, and also performing that feat the year before.

On Monday, Direct Dial paid $13 to win, $5.40 to place and $3.20 to show across the board in this allowance-optional claiming $50,000 race. He earned $19,200 from the $32,000 purse and improved to 24 starts, eight wins, four seconds and six thirds for a lifetime bankroll of $382,706.

Shannon C set the pace of :22.15 for the first quarter-mile, :45.09 for the half-mile and :57.29 after five furlongs. Direct Dial stopped the timer in 1:09.77 over a fast track.

Remington Park racing continues Tuesday with a 10-race card underway at Noon-Central.

Tracked by more than 164,000 fans on Facebook and 10,500 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $252 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 open daily for casino gaming and simulcast horse racing. The $200,000 Springboard Mile, the top stakes event for 2-year-olds at Remington Park, is featured on Friday, Dec. 18. The 2020 Thoroughbred Season continues through Sunday, Dec. 20. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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