ROYALAMERICAN RUNS HIS BLACK TYPE-WINNING STREAK TO TWO IN ROW WITH IN DON McNEILL STAKES

Royalamerican is proving to be a versatile 2-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelding, winning his first stakes sprinting at Remington Park in October. Then, on Friday night, extended that black-type streak to two in a row, this one at one mile in the $50,000 Don McNeill Stakes.

The race is named for the late Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame owner and breeder, who had such legendary horses in his stable as Clever Trevor, the first Remington Park Derby winner (now the Oklahoma Derby), Caleb’s Posse (the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner) and Mr Ross (winner of three consecutive Oklahoma Classics Cup races while also winning stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., – The Essex and The Razorback before racing second in the Oaklawn Handicap).

Royalamerican is beginning to look like a horse that might have been in McNeill’s barn. The gelding by Upstart, out of the Creative Cause mare Scat for the Cause, is owned and trained and was bred by C.R. Trout of Edmond, Okla.

“He’s a nice horse,” Trout said. “I’ve liked this colt since he was born. He has always been easy on himself. I knew he would like the distance. I always thought six furlongs or 6-1/2 was a little short for him.”

Still, he won his first stakes at six furlongs on Oct. 17 at Remington Park in the Oklahoma Classics Juvenile. Stretching him out for the first time did nothing to upset the apple cart for Royalamerican. Jockey David Cabrera set him down well off the pace in sixth and seventh early on. He backed Royalamerican away from traffic with a half-mile left, moving him toward a clear path to the outside. That move paid off as Royalamerican swung four-wide off the second turn, moving from fourth to first by a head early in the stretch. He wound up winning by three-quarters of a length after catching the front-running Nucleus (16-1). The only thing Cabrera and Trout had to worry about was when Royalamerican began bearing in on Nucleus in deep stretch.

“He never tried to touch that other horse,” Cabrera said of Nucleus. “My horse was getting in a little, but not that much.”

The two of them proved to be the class of this bunch with Royalamerican winning by three-quarters of length at 1-5 odds and Nucleus finishing 8-1/2 more lengths ahead of third-place finisher Ztwentyeight (5-1).

Royalamerican finished the mile in 1:39.49 on the fast track after cutting into fractions of :23.63 for the first quarter-mile, :47.59 for the half-mile, and 1:12.72 for three-quarters of a mile before setting the seven furlongs mark of 1:25.92. He paid $2.60 to win, $2.10 to place and show.

Royalamerican earned $30,000 for the victory and improved to four starts, two wins and two seconds for a bankroll of $90,639. This was Trout’s second time in the winner’s circle for the Don McNeill as he won in 2016 with Hallelujah Hit.

“I really want to give credit to (assistant) Andy Gladd, who couldn’t be here because of health issues,” said Trout. “He’s the one who has told me what to do with this horse.”

Cabrera concurred.

“C.R. and Kassie (Gladd) all do a great job with this horse,” he said.

The rest of the order of finish past the top three was Docket (98-1) fourth, How About Bob (9-2) fifth, Title Talk (49-1) sixth, Sir Tristan (16-1) seventh and I Am What I Am (51-1) eighth.

Remington Park continues Saturday, Nov. 8 with a first post time of 6 p.m.-Central.

Remington Park has provided more than $399 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 year-round simulcast racing and casino gaming. The 2025 Springboard Mile, a 2026 Kentucky Derby qualifying points race, takes place Saturday, Dec. 20, the final night of the Thoroughbred Season. Guests must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or to enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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