OKLAHOMA HORSE RACING HALL OF FAME TRAINER DONNIE VON HEMEL PADS LEAD AFTER CLASSICS TURF WIN WITH EAKLY

Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Donnie Von Hemel padded his unreachable wins total in Oklahoma Classics races by winning the $99,600 OKC Turf Classic Handicap with Eakly in the finale of the card for Oklahoma-breds Friday night.

That win gave Von Hemel a total of 32 Oklahoma Classics victories, twice as many as his closest competitor in the training ranks, C.R. Trout with 16. Jockey Richard Eramia won his second stakes of the night going wire to wire in this race at 1-1/16th miles on the firm grass.

The two trips to the winner’s circle for Eramia gave him 14 overall Classics wins, tying him for fourth place all-time with Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Famer Tim Doocy. They trail Hall of Famers Cliff Berry (26), Luis Quinonez (23) and Don Pettinger (21) in the Classics standings.

It was the second year in a row Eakly had won the OKC Turf Classic Handicap. Eakly had prepped for this race in the $50,000 Red Earth Stakes on Sept. 20 when he came up just short. Tap the Dot got past him on the last jump of that race at 7-1/2 furlongs greensward.

After Friday night’s win in the OKC Turf Handicap, Von Hemel and Eramia, a longtime trainer-jockey combination were jovially arguing in the winner’s circle about whose fault it was Eakly lost by a head in that race. Eakly had been off from Dec. 15, 2023 to Sept. 20 this year when he barely lost off the long layoff. Tap the Dot (even-money favorite in the Turf Classic) didn’t have as clean a trip Friday as he did winning the Red Earth and could only get up for third place tonight. Mind Bolt (5-1) squeezed between the two for second place on Friday. Eakly won by two lengths while Mind Bolt stayed 1-1/4 lengths ahead of Tap the Dot.

“He showed us he liked the turf once we finally put him on the grass,” said Von Hemel. No one could really blame this knowledgeable trainer for waiting so long. Eakly is sired by Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Caleb’s Posse. Now that he has found his niche, the path to the future looks inevitable to keep Eakly there.

“Yeah, the recipe seems quite clear,” Von Hemel said. “A little turf racing, a little Okie-breds, give him some rest and get him ready for next year.”

Eramia said Eakly did it easily Friday night; “it was a piece of cake.”

The 4-year-old out of the Lonhro (AUS) mare Vian was bred by Candy Meadows, LLC. He is owned by Cheyenne Stables (Everett Dobson) of Oklahoma City. Eakly earned $59,760 from the purse. He improved lifetime to 16 starts, four wins, five seconds and three thirds for $237,626 in earnings.

Eakly set all the fractions, covering the distance in :24.49 for the first quarter-mile, :49.55 for the half-mile 1:13.63 for three-quarters of a mile and 1:37.55 for the mile. He crossed the finish in 1:43.63.

Eakly went off at 6-1 odds last year when he won this race, but got much more respect tonight at 9-5 as the second betting favorite. He paid $5.80 to win, $3.60 to place and $2.20 to show. After Tap the Dot in third, the order of finish was Good Swimmer (10-1) fourth, Rowdy Rascal (11-1) fifth, Computation (25-1) sixth, and You Time (44-1) seventh.

Remington Park racing continues Saturday, Oct. 19 with the first race at 6:30pm-Central.

Remington Park has provided more than $363 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 when the $300,000 Springboard Mile tops the final night of the season. The major 2-year-old stakes race of the season, the Springboard awards valuable 2025 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. 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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