EUTYCHIA WINS FEATURED ALLOWANCE AT REMINGTON PARK, PULLING ASMUSSEN WITHIN ONE OF LEADING OWNER CALDWELL

Leading trainer Steve Asmussen is trying his best to win a second category in the horsemen’s standings this meet at Remington Park, bidding to be the top owner as well.

Eutychia, a 4-year-old filly from Asmussen’s barn, helped him move within one win of leading owner Danny Caldwell, winning the featured allowance race Sunday night.

Caldwell, of Poteau, Okla., the all-time winningest owner at Remington Park, leads the standings with 25 victories this season, one ahead of Asmussen’s 24, going into the final two days of racing. On Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 21 & 22, Caldwell has eight horses entered while Asmussen has entered five.

Asmussen, of Arlington, Texas, has continued to press the pace in the race despite entering only 81 horses as an owner compared to 148 for Caldwell. Asmussen picked up his win Sunday during a rare racing program where Caldwell had no horses entered.

It all comes down to this:

MONDAY – Caldwell has Unlawful Assembly (7-2 morning line odds) in the fifth, Forty Nine Model (9-2) in the eighth and Hansens Mischief (12-1) in the ninth. Asmussen has Insurrection (3-1) in the seventh and Nautical Gem (5-2) in the eighth, the only race where the top two owners face off.

TUESDAY – Caldwell emptied the barn on the final day with Popfly Two Six (9-2) in the third, Off Sixes (6-1) in the fourth, Touching Rainbows (9-2) in the seventh, Beauty Day (5-1) in the eighth and Something Super (6-1) in race nine. Asmussen answers with Princess Asya (2-1) in the opener, and goes head-to-head in races with Caldwell, entering Don’t Forget (2-1) in the fourth and Upgrade Me (5-2) in the eighth.

Following Sunday’s races, Caldwell’s stats were 148 starts, 25 firsts, 16 seconds and 22 thirds. Asmussen was at 81-24-11-12.

Eutychia gave hope to Asmussen’s barn with the win Sunday when the 4-year-old daughter of Itsmyluckyday, out of the Beau Genius mare Serene Serena, came from mid-pack in the 5-1/2 furlongs sprint and rushed between the battling leaders late in the stretch to win by a half-length.

Eutychia was ridden to victory by Kevin Roman at 5-1 post time odds and paid $13.40 to win, $5.40 to place, and $3 to show. Tesuque (9-1) closed from dead last in the eight-horse field and just couldn’t get to the front by herself. She did, however, hold off the heavy 4-5 betting favorite, Hunny Hush, who faded to third, another 1-1/2 lengths back.

Eutychia earned $21,972 from the $38,250 purse in the first-level allowance race for Oklahoma-bred 3-year-olds-and-up fillies and mares. Her record improved to 31 starts, four wins, four seconds, and seven shows and a bankroll of $109,495 accumulated. Running time for the winner was 1:04.68 over the fast track. Eutychia chased fractions set by Hunny Hush of :21.86 for the first quarter-mile, :45.53 for the half-mile and :58.19 for five-eighths of a mile.

Jockey Standings
Jockey David Cabrera already has clinched his third riding title in a row, winning three times Sunday to move to 92 wins for the meet, 29 ahead of second-place Stewart Elliott. Rounding out the top five are Ramon Vazquez with 60, Sophie Doyle 46 and Richard Eramia 43.

In one other chase among jockeys, Luis Quinonez won the final race of the night Sunday with Spirit of Spoatie and that put him at 1,415 wins all-time at Remington Park. He now sits four wins behind the second-winningest jockey in history here, Don Pettinger at 1419. Cliff Berry sits comfortably on top with 2,125.

Trainer Standings
The trainers’ race is a far different animal for Asmussen as he takes a 47-win lead into the final two days. He has made 73 trips to the winner’s circle this meet. Austin Gustafson is second with 26 wins, followed by Scott Young, Bret Calhoun and Danny Pish tied with 25 to round out the top five. This will be Asmussen’s 16th training title at Remington Park, easily tops among conditioners all-time here and it will be his fifth in a row.

Remington Park wraps up the 2020 Thoroughbred Season with Monday and Tuesday action on Dec. 21 & 22. The first race both days is at Noon-Central.

Tracked by more than 164,000 fans on Facebook and 10,500 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $254 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. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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