SO THERE SHE WAS WINS STRETCH BATTLE TO OUTLAST HEAVY FAVORITE LEMON ZEST IN REMINGTON PARK OAKS
The top two favorites in the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks went eyeball-to-eyeball the entire 1-1/16 miles of the race. When it was said and done, it was the second choice, So There She Was (7-2 odds) who put away the heavy favorite Lemon Zest (2-5).
Leading local rider Ramon Vazquez and Luis Saez went 1-2 around the racetrack in the Oaks and were head-to-head after six furlongs. Lemon Zest was trying to run her win streak to three in a row for trainer Brad Cox, but she had no answer for the winner at the very end, settling for second. Seraphia (11-1) was another nose back in third.
“I just wanted to put (So There She Was) in the right spot and she gave me everything she had at the end,” said Vazquez. “She responded right away just when I needed that last push.”
Local trainer Mindy Willis took care of this filly for West Coast conditioner Doug O’Neill. O’Neill is a two-time Kentucky Derby winner with I’ll Have Another in 2012 and Nyquist in 2016.
“This filly came in ready to run,” Willis said. “(Doug) always sends them to me like that.”
So There She Was, a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Munnings, out of the Take Charge Indy mare Risk Premium, pocketed $120,000 for owners Great Friends Stables and Mark Davis of Vista, Calif. She improved her lifetime record to seven starts, two wins, three seconds and one third or $282,620 in earnings.
So There She Was crossed the finish in 1:45.56 over a fast track. She sat just off the fractions set by Lemon Zest of :24.35 for the first quarter-mile, :48.60 for the half-mile and 1:13.98 for three quarters of a mile. So There She Was had easily taken over by three lengths at the top of the stretch. The time for her mile was 1:38.98.
So There She Was paid $9 to win, $3 to place and $2.40 to show. The rest of the order of finish past the top three was Legal Empress (13-1) fourth, Runnin N Gunnin (6-1) fifth and Ima Margarita Girl (33-1) sixth.
So There She Was sold at auction three times, the first time for $145,000 at the Keeneland Association November Breeding Stock Sale of 2022. She then showed up at the Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale of 2023 and went for only $15,000. Mark Davis then picked her up for $100,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ March Sale for 2-year-olds in training in 2024.
The Oaks win on So There She Wasy gave Vazquez his 701st at score at Remington Park, tying him for sixth-place all-time on the jockeys’ list here with Benny Landeros.
Remington Park racing moves into October with a four-date race week, Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 2-5. The first race nightly is at 6pm. Sunday racing on Oct. 5 begins at 2pm. All times are Central.
Remington Park has provided more than $390 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 Oklahoma Classics Night of stakes racing for top Oklahoma-breds is Friday, Oct. 17. The Thoroughbred Season continues through Dec. 20. 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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