JOCKEY ELLIOTT GETS RIDING TRIPLE IN RETURN FROM WEEKLONG SUSPENSION, WINS ON HORSE FOR WHICH HE WAS SUSPENDED
Former Kentucky Derby winning jockey Stewart Elliott returned from a week off with a vengeance, winning three times on his first night back at Remington Park.
When Elliott took over at the top of the stretch on Cherished in the eighth race Wednesday night, and drew away to win by 2-1/2 lengths in a first-level allowance sprint on the dirt, it was the third time the jock had entered the winner’s circle on the evening. He won on half of his six mounts. His other victories came aboard Princess Asya in the third race and Arch’s Wild in the fourth race. All his wins came for leading trainer Steve Asmussen. It was the second time in a little more than a month Elliott had won aboard Cherished under these conditions. She was the filly on which he was disqualified Sept. 4 and placed second, and then suspended for careless riding.
In the Sept. 4 race, he won by 2-1/2 lengths in a six-furlongs sprint at 7-5 odds before being DQ’d.
All three winners Wednesday were horses that raced with early pace, Princess Asya went wire-to-wire in a 5-1/2 furlongs sprint on the main track and Arch’s Wild was no farther back than third in his six- furlongs sprint on the dirt. Cherished sat second down the backstretch and passed a fading Miss Antioch, who still held on for second.
Cherished, a 4-year-old filly by Congrats, out of the Forest Wildcat mare Ever Adored, won this time at 6-5 odds. The betting favorite at 4-5, She’s Gone d’Wild, finished third, another head back of runner-up Miss Antioch (31-1).
Cherished, a Kentucky bred by Copper Penny Stables, earned $17,847 from the purse of $30,000 for 3-year-olds-and-older, fillies and mares. She covered the 6-1/2 furlongs in 1:16.57 over a fast track. She sat just off the shoulder of interior fractions, :22.31 for the first quarter-mile, :45.31 for the half-mile, and 1:10.03 for three quarters of a mile. Cherished had two bullet workouts on her form at Remington Park since her last attempt on Sept. 4.
The winner’s earnings for owner CJ Thoroughbreds of Grapevine, Texas, boosted her bankroll to $105,492. Her race record is now 18 starts, four wins, two seconds and one third.
Elliott’s other two winners on Wednesday were both owned and trained by Asmussen.
Remington Park racing continues Thursday thru Saturday, Oct. 8-10, with nine races on tap each night, starting at 7:07pm-Central.
Tracked by more than 164,000 fans on Facebook and 10,500 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $250 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 2020 Thoroughbred Season features the Oklahoma Classics on Friday, Oct. 16, a million-dollar night of stakes racing for top Oklahoma-breds. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
-30-