GHOST HERO BREAKS HIS MAIDEN IN OKLAHOMA CLASSICS JUVENILE, WINNING FOR FIRST TIME WHEN LIGHTS SHINE BRIGHTEST

Ghost Hero had been beaten earlier in the Remington Park season by a couple of the horses in the $88,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile in maiden races. That didn’t stop him from gaining vengeance when the lights shone brightest Friday night.

The 2-year-old colt by Shaman Ghost (Ghostzapper), out of the Super Saver mare Queen Buxley, was apparently well meant for this race and was bet down from his 10-1 morning line odds to 3-1 at post time. He was the third favorite despite already having been beaten by Connors Outlaw (3-1) and Eakly, the 2-1 betting favorite. Those two horses finished third and fourth, respectively. Send the Boss (7-1) was the runner-up, finishing 1-3/4 lengths behind the winner.

Ghost Hero paid $8.20 to win, $4.40 to place and $3.40 to show.

Jockey Stewart Elliott won for the second time in the Oklahoma Classics and trainer Jayde Gelner got his first victory in this series. Ghost Hero stopped the timer for six furlongs in 1:11.19 on the fast track. He had the lead virtually every step of the way and stubbornly held the front all the way to the finish line.

“Even though I hadn’t ridden him in a race before, I worked him for this race and he worked good and ran good tonight,” Elliott said. “I just let him do what he wanted to do and he put himself in front easily. He jumped out and was cruising on his own. When we got to the stretch, I had plenty of horse left and he just kept running.”

Gelner said he wasn’t worried about his horse being a maiden in a stakes race and they were planning on putting him in this race for a long time for owner Norman Stables (Robert Norman) of Thomasville, Ala.
“This has been on the calendar before the meet started,” he said. “We entered him with confidence and always thought he had more to offer.”

Ghost Hero had lost to Connors Outlaw by 3-1/4 lengths when they met at Remington Park on Sept. 17 and then lost to Eakly by 2-1/4 lengths in his second career attempt on Sept. 30. He did show improvement in that one, however, finishing second after running fourth in his debut.

Ghost Hero set fractions on Friday night of :21.97 for the first quarter-mile, :45.06 for the half-mile and ;57.52 for five-eighths of a mile. The young colt pocketed $52,800 for the win and improved his lifetime mark to three starts, one win and one second as his career bankroll expanded five times over from $10,704 to $63,504 for his owner. The colt was bred in Oklahoma by Clark Brewster of Tulsa.

Live racing at Remington Park continues Saturday night with a first post of 7:07pm-Central.

Tracked by more than 171,000 fans on Facebook and 10,600 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $304 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 $400,000 Springboard Mile, our top 2-year-old race on the final night of the season on Saturday, December 17. Remington Park also presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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