JOCKEY LEANDRO GONCALVES SCORES RIDING TRIPLE, WINNING FEATURED ALLOWANCE WITH LUCKYTABUCKY
Jockey Leandro Goncalves romped with Luckytabucky in the featured allowance race Thursday night at Remington Park. The score gave the rider three wins on the card.
The big night for Goncalves moved him from ninth in the standings to a tie for seventh with Rene Diaz. They both have seven trips to the winner’s circle this meet. Leading rider Stewart Elliott won another on Thursday to give him 23 for the meet and a seven-win lead over second-place Floyd Wethey, Jr., at 16.
Luckytabucky, a 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelding by Flat Out, from the Kipling mare Gotagogotagogotago, scratched from the $30,000 Oklahoma Stallion Handicap with another $20,000 in Oklahoma-bred money last week to race in this softer spot of a $35,000 first-level allowance. It was a brilliant move by his connections as the highly touted Flat Hanby won the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap, while Luckytabucky was impressive in his victory on Thursday night under Goncalves.
There’s a reason Kari Craddock is the all-time winningest female trainer in Remington Park history with decisions like this. She got the victory for owners Hal Browning and David Faulkner of Dallas. It was her 377th win at Remington Park, putting her one win shy of tying the late Roger Engel (378) for 10th place overall in Oklahoma City.
Luckytabucky was an 8-1 morning line outsider in the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap, but was sent off as the even-money favorite in his Thursday allowance race. He drew off to win by 4-1/2 lengths and paid $4.20 to win, $2.80 to place and $2.20 to show. Running time for the six-furlong sprint was 1:11.23 over the fast main track. The son of Oklahoma’s top sire, Flat Out, made every pole a winning one, setting interior fractions of :22.74 for the first quarter-mile, :46.10 for the half-mile and a blistering :58.33 for five-eighths of a mile. It was at that point that Luckytabucky left his competitors in his dust.
Mortify (6-1) got up for second, another 3-1/2 lengths in front of third-place runner He’s All Ears (17-1).
Luckytabucky is a home-bred for his owners. He earned $20,898 for Thursday night’s win. He would have made $10,000 for second, which most people were running for, in last week’s Oklahoma Stallion Handicap as Flat Hanby won the stakes by 6-1/4 lengths.
Luckytabucky improved his record to four starts, two wins, one second and $54,601 in his bankroll. Luckytabucky broke his maiden at first asking at Remington Park as a 2-year-old last year on Aug. 19, winning easily by 2-3/4 lengths as the even-money favorite. He had raced once this summer at Remington prior to this race against first-level allowance horses and finished second, beaten by 4-1/2 lengths by Breakable Code.
Remington Park racing continues Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13 & 14, with the first race nightly at 6:30pm-Central.
Remington Park has provided more than $357 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 presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. The 2024 Thoroughbred Season continues through Dec. 13. The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby takes place on Sunday, Sept. 29. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
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