POPULAR KID WINS FOR SECOND TIME IN ROW ON DIRT IN ALLOWANCE COMPANY AFTER TRYING STAKES HORSES ON GRASS

Popular Kid returned to the main track and allowance company to win for the second time in a row on the dirt surface at Remington Park on Wednesday night. He scored in the featured race on the night, the WestWin Farms Mile.

Popular Kid tried his wares against one of the toughest stakes fields in Oklahoma City this meet in the $100,000 Remington Green last time out on Sept. 26, but could only get fourth, beaten 5-1/4 lengths by Spooky Channel. All that winner did was go on to Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., and win the Grade 3, $150,000 Sycamore Stakes on Oct. 22. Running fourth to him was nothing to sneeze at as Popular Kid proved, once back in the allowance ranks.

Jockey Jose Alvarez sat chilly in fourth place in a field of five solid allowance horses and pounced with Popular Kid in the stretch as he and another closer, Drifting West, fought to the wire. Popular Kid, a 7-year-old gelded son of Popular, out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Lemon Supreme, proved the best by 1-1/4 lengths at 7-5 odds. Drifting West (7-1) moved past the 4-5 favorite, Favorable Outcome, in the final strides to get the runner-up spot by 1-1/4 lengths. Popularity checked in fourth and Box Seat was fifth.

It was the 14th win lifetime for Popular Kid, owned by George Sharp of Phoenix, Ariz., and trained by Shawn Davis. Alvarez has been this horse’s regular rider since June 7 at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, when he won by seven lengths at 1-1/16th miles over a muddy track. The track at Remington Park on Wednesday night was listed as good after overnight rains. The distance was one mile.

Popular Kid earned $39,000 from the $65,000 allowance purse and improved his record to 61 starts, 14 victories, nine seconds and five thirds, surpassing the half-a-million dollar mark with his new bankroll of $538,774. He covered the distance in 1:37.35, cutting into fractions of :23.27 for the first quarter-mile, :46.96 for the half-mile, 1:11.86 for three-quarters of a mile and 1:24.49 for seven-eighths of a mile.

It was the second win on the card for Alvarez who sits in a tie for fifth in the jockeys’ standings with 21 trips to the winner’s circle. He is tied with Richard Eramia. The top four are David Cabrera with 51 wins. He has won the riding title here the past three years in a row and appears to be on his way to number four. Stewart Elliott is running second with 35 victories, followed by Ramon Vazquez and Leandro Goncalves in third and fourth, respectively. Vazquez has 27 wins to Goncalves’ 26.

The winner was the only horse entered for Davis on Wednesday and he has now won five times at this meet with only 17 tries, two of them with Popular Kid.

The gelding returned $4.80, $3.20 and $2.10 across the board to his backers.

Remington Park racing continues Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 28-30, with the first post nightly at 7:07pm-Central.

Tracked by more than 167,000 fans on Facebook and 10,400 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $272 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 home for the $100,000 Clever Trevor Stakes, on Friday, Oct. 29. Simulcast horse racing featured daily, the casino is always open! Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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