MESSIAH BLOWS THEM AWAY IN FEATURED TURF RACE, WINNING BY OPEN DAYLIGHT

Trainer Ron Moquett sent out Messiah for the feature race on the turf Saturday night at Remington Park, and just as it was three other times before, the grass was this 5-year-old gelding’s best friend.

The impressive thing about this gelding, other than winning the $30,000 first-level allowance race by 7-3/4 lengths, is that his four wins over the turf have come at four different tracks – Turfway Park, Sam Houston Race Park, Indiana Grand and now Remington Park. David Cabrera, the two-time defending riding champion at Remington, was in the irons for Moquett and pushed his steed home with astonishing ease at 7-2 odds.

Runner-up Tapsolution, also at 7-2, was another county behind the winner, but a head in front of third-place finisher Big League Benny, the beaten wagering favorite at 5-2.

Messiah, a son of Anthony’s Cross, out of the Bowman’s Band mare Verse Choir, is owned by Southern Springs Stables (Moquett) and Young Guns Bloodstock, a partnership of Louisville, Ky. Messiah was bred in Florida by Sun Thoroughbred Stable. He earned $17,643 from the purse and improved his career record to 18 starts, five wins, two seconds and three thirds for $92,738.

A total of $83,923 of Messiah’s earnings have taken place in turf action. He looked like a turbo lawnmower Saturday, chopping down his competitors Saturday night. His record on the grass is 15 starts with four wins, two seconds and two thirds.

Messiah returned $9, $4.80 and $3.20 across the board to his backers. Running time for the 7-1/2 furlongs was 1:30.52 over the firm going. The gelding made every pole a winning one as he set fractions of :23.80 for the first quarter-mile, :47.90 at the half-mile, and 1:12.74 for three-quarters of a mile. Cabrera has been in the saddle for three of Messiah’s four turf victories.

New Pick 4 Wager Getting Play
An early success story of the first two race dates this season is the new Premier Pick 4 wager that starts in the second race of the card. The payouts in those two bets have been $3,818.40 and $4,195.25 with the wagering pool for the wager growing exponentially the second night.

Live racing continues next Friday, Aug. 28 with nine races set with a first post time of 7:07pm-Central.

Tracked by more than 164,000 fans on Facebook and more than 10,400 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $246 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 continues through Dec. 20. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

-30-