OPENING NIGHT PROGRAM AT REMINGTON PARK FEATURES A SOLID GOVERNOR’S CUP STAKES AND FULL FIELDS

The program for the Opening Night of the 2021 Remington Park Thoroughbred Season is set. The Friday, Aug. 20 card was compiled this morning, led by the $175,000 Governor’s Cup Stakes with a field of 10.

There are 92 horses entered over the nine-race program for an average field size of 10.2. The total purses for the evening stand at $409,550. The first race of the season is set for 7:07pm-Central.

Jockey David Cabrera, the three-time defending riding champ at Remington Park, is back and set to begin another determined run at the local crown. He will ride the card on Opening Night, named on mounts in all nine races, including Trident Hit in the Governor’s Cup. Trident Hit is trained by Ron Moquett.

Cabrera has had a solid 2021 with 62 wins at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. this spring, finishing second, just six wins behind Ricardo Santana. He had 55 victories at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas this summer, where he was second behind Steward Elliott.

Elliott returns to Remington Park after posting riding titles at both Sam Houston Race Park (62 wins) and Lone Star Park (71) this year. He finished second in the standings at Remington Park in 2020 with 66 wins. The veteran Elliott, winner of the 2004 Kentucky Derby aboard Smarty Jones, has been named to ride in four races Opening Night. A pair of the mounts will be for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Now the all-time leading trainer by wins, Asmussen has accumulated 1,127 of his nearly 10,000 victories, at Remington Park. He has won 16 titles as leading trainer here, including the last five seasons consecutively. He posted 76 wins for the Remington Park award in 2020. Asmussen has three entered for the first night of the season, including a pair in the Governor’s Cup. Tenfold will be ridden by Elliott while Tapit Wise will be handled by Leandro Goncalves.

Karl Broberg will have his full barn of athletes in action with horses entered in eight of the nine races for the first card of the season. He has Hunka Burning Love in the Governor’s Cup, seeking to win the race for the second straight year. No horse has won the Governor’s Cup, for older horses at 1-1/8 miles, in two straight years since Mr Ross accomplished the feat in 1999 and 2000.

Reylu Gutierrez is a prominent newcomer to Remington Park this season after finishing third at Lone Star Park with 45 wins. He has 89 wins for the year and has been riding primarily at Colonial Downs in Virginia since wrapping up the season in Texas.

Ramon Vazquez, third in the Remington Park jockey colony last year with 62 wins, has four mounts for the first night of racing. A five-time riding champ here, Vazquez will ride Rated R Superstar in the Governor’s Cup for trainer Federico Villafranco. Vazquez has traveled the country since finishing fourth at Oaklawn with 43 wins, and sixth at Lone Star Park with 32 wins. He has been riding at Del Mar, Louisiana Downs, Mountaineer and Saratoga since early July.

Remington Park will open the season with a pair of Friday and Saturday night programs in August, before moving to a regular Wednesday through Saturday evening schedule in September.

Tracked by more than 167,000 fans on Facebook and 10,400 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $269 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 features live and simulcast horse racing, and the casino is always open! The 2021 Thoroughbred Season begins Aug. 20. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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