LEO STAKES AT REMINGTON PARK ATTRACTS EQUALLY TALENTED FIELD, MI AMOR SECRETO MADE LUKEWARM FAVORITE FOR SATURDAY

When Saturday night’s Grade 1, $68,000 Leo Stakes is unveiled, it could be one of the most competitive in its history with eight of the 12 starters already stakes winners.

Mi Amor Secreto, winner of the $72,000 Bank of American Challenge Stakes at Remington Park on March 29, has been established as the lukewarm morning-line favorite at 7-2 odds with Apocalyptical Jess, winner of the 2018 All American Futurity, close behind at 4-1. Mi Amor Secreto also was a close second in the latest Champion of Champions race at Los Alamitos in southern California on Dec. 14, arguably the top American Quarter Horse race in the country for older horses. The purse that night was $600,000.

Apocalyptical Jess is by far the top earner in the field with $2,189,076 in his bankroll, but a great deal of that was won in the $3 million All American Futurity two years ago. Mi Amor Secreto is the third-highest earner in the field with $478,765 in his wallet. The only horse higher than him is MPshinning with $698,255.

The stakes winners in the field are Mi Amor Secreto, Apocalyptical Jess, Hot Dam Bam a Lam, Valiant Tiberias, MPshinning, Senator Fast Jack, Shockinglyfamous, and Jordan Eagle. One of the horses that surprisingly has not won a stakes yet is Dexxter, an invader from the West Coast. He is listed fourth in the morning-line odds at 5-1 and is multiple stakes-placed. He draws leading rider James Flores for the Leo Stakes.

Mi Amor Secreto had gone off at 4-1 odds in the Bank of America Challenge for trainer Marcos Carrizales and owner Kelly Perez of Seguin, Texas, but had several races with 100-plus speed indexes and figured. When 3-5 wagering favorite Valiant Tiberias lugged in at the start of the Bank of America, he was only able to run third, but was disqualified to ninth. The rematch will come in the Leo Stakes on Saturday. Valiant Tiberias gets a rider switch from Flores to Mario Delgado. Flores has opted for Dexxter, the horse that shipped in at the beginning of the meet from Los Al, last December, to Remington for owners Dunn Ranch and Valeriano Racing Stables of Perryton, Texas.

Apocalyptical Jess ran the worst race of his career, breaking slowly in the $84,000 Sooner State Stakes on April 18 here and was one of two All American winners to lose on that card. Mr Jess Jenkins, last year’s All American winner, also lost, finishing second to the undefeated filly Fernweh in the Grade 1, $268,700 Remington Park Derby.

Apocalyptical Jess, last year’s 3-year-old Champion at Remington Park, will try to rebound with regular rider Ricky Ramirez for trainer Blane Wood. It was his first loss in three tries at the Oklahoma City track when he was beaten, finishing eighth. He is owned by Bill Robbins of San Jose, Calif.

Here is the field for the Leo Stakes, by post position and program, with jockey, trainer, and morning-line odds:

1) Hot Dam Bam a Lam, Jorge Torres, Trey Ellis, 15-1
2) Apocalyptical Jess, Ricky Ramirez, Blane Wood, 4-1
3) Valiant Tiberias, Mario Delgado, Wesley Giles, 9-2
4) MPshinning, Raul Valenzuela, Adrian Huitron, 15-1
5) Senator Fast Jack, Paul Nieto, Harvey Baeza, 20-1
6) Shockinglyfamous, Agustin Silva, Kasey Willis, 12-1
7) Dexxter, James Flores, Monty Arrossa, 5-1
8) Jordan Eagle, Rodrigo Vallejo, Josue Ponce, 8-1
9) Apollitical J Twin 1, Juan Pulido, Rex Brooks, 30-1
10) Mi Amor Secreto, Jose Alvarez, Marcos Carrizales, 7-2 (morning-line favorite)
11) Dashing Sweet Brujo, Jonathan Dominguez, Jonathan Castaneda, 15-1
12) Consigliere, Cody Smith, Michael Joiner, 15-1

The Leo Stakes is named in honor of one of Quarter Horse racing’s foundation sires. Leo, an AQHA Hall of Fame member, stood the bulk of his long stallion career in Perry, Okla., where a life-size statue commemorates him to this day. Leo was owned for the final decades of his life by Bud Warren.

Saturday’s Leo Stakes is the ninth of 10 races. The program begins at 6pm with the Leo set for approximately 9:35pm.

Remington Park racing moves into May with the first race nightly at 6pm, Friday-Sunday, May 1-3. All times are Central.

Tracked by more than 163,000 fans on Facebook and more than 10,200 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $242 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 the 2020 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season through May 30. Visit remingtonpark.com for free racing selections for every program.

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