TOP TRAINERS IN COUNTRY NOMINATE TOTAL OF 11 HORSES FOR $300,000 SPRINGBOARD MILE at REMINGTON PARK

A total of 28 2-year-olds have been nominated for the $300,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park, on the final night of the season, Friday, Dec. 15. The top two trainers in the country – Brad Cox and Steve Asmussen – have 11 of the nominees in their barns.

Cox, currently leads the country in horse earnings this year of $29,626,138, has nominated six from his stable. Asmussen, the all-time winningest trainer in North American horse racing history, and currently the top conditioner in the nation by wins with 352, has nominated five.

For this Springboard Mile, which carries 2024 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for first through fifth, there were seven horses nominated that have already earned in excess of $100,000 as 2-year-olds. The top earner in the field at $177,501, expected to go in the race, is Glengarry, trained by Doug Anderson, who trains out of Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark. Glengarry, a colt by Maximus Mischief, out of the Tizway mare L.A. Way, is a multiple stakes winner. He is owned by Anderson in conjunction with Aaron Kennedy and Toby Joseph of Iowa.

Asmussen has a couple of noms that would push for top bankroll if they were entered in the Springboard – Lagynos ($175,660) and Gold Sweep ($173,300). Cox’s top money earner nominated is Catching Freedom ($75,350). Here’s a look at the nominees from Asmussen and Cox’s barns:

ASMUSSEN
Lagynos (Kentucky-bred colt by Kantharos, out of Speightstown mare Steamy) has two wins in Kentucky from three starts. He has yet to run in stakes company, but broke his maiden at first asking at Kentucky Downs on the turf Sept. 10 by 2-1/4 lengths. He followed that at Churchill Downs in an allowance-optional $100,000 claiming race, running third, beaten 1-3/4 lengths Nov. 9. The colt picked up his second win in his next start Nov. 25 at Churchill, winning with allowance non-winners of two career races. He has had three different jockeys in his three races. He is owned by HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud, who bought him for $200,000 at the Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale last year. Record: 3 starts, 2 wins and one third for $175,600.

Gold Sweep (Kentucky-bred colt by Speightstown, out of Giant’s Causeway mare Wonder Brew) has run against the top 2-year-olds in the country, coming out of the Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga in upstate New York on Sept. 4, and the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont at Aqueduct in New York on Oct. 7 at the one-mile distance. He added blinkers in the Champagne and ran fourth on a sloppy track. Prior to those big spots, the colt won the $150,000 Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 11 by nine lengths, sprinting 5-1/2 lengths. He is owned by longtime Asmussen client Mike McCarty, who purchased the colt for $285,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale in November 2022. Record: 5-1-2-0, $173,300.

Otto the Conqueror (Kentucky-bred colt by Street Sense, out of Shackleford mare Dream It Is) has plenty of distance breeding with a Kentucky Derby winner on top of his pedigree and the Preakness winner on bottom. He has won his last two races in a row with the second win against winners for the first time being even more impressive than his maiden win. The colt, owned by Three Chimneys Farm, was bought for $450,000 at the Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale last year. He broke his maiden by a neck at Churchill Downs at seven furlongs on Sept. 22 and then bettered that effort with a four-length win against allowance-optional $100,000 claiming horses over a sloppy track on Oct. 29, again at seven furlongs. Record: 3-2-1-0, $157,360.

Asmussen’s other two nominees are Informed Patriot ($108,000 earned, third in Grade 3, $200,000 Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs), and Track Phantom ($105,000 earned, a maiden winner from Churchill Downs).

COX
Catching Freedom (Kentucky-bred colt by Constitution, out of Pioneerof the Nile mare Catch My Drift) is the top earner that could go for the nation’s top trainer. Broke his maiden at first asking on Oct. 1 at Churchill Downs and then finished fourth, a half-length behind Asmussen nom Lagynos in allowance-optional $100,000 race Nov. 9. Both of those races were around two turns, the maiden win at one mile and the subsequent fourth at 1-1/16th miles. Purchased by owner Albaugh Family Stables for $575,000 at the Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale last year. Record: 2-1-0-0, $75,350.

Drum Roll Please (Pennsylvania-bred colt by Hard Spun, out of E Dubai mare Imply) would get into the Springboard off a maiden win in his third try after moving from Saratoga to Belmont at Aqueduct. He won by two lengths on Oct. 6 at one mile. Owned by Gold Square, he was purchased for $250,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale last October. Record: 3-1-1-0, $71,130.

Awesome Rod (Kentucky-bred colt by Quality Road, out of A.P. Indy mare Orate) is a colt Cox had high hopes for, entering him in the Grade 1, $600,000 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 7 in Kentucky and in the Grade 2, $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. He was purchased by Albaugh Family Stables and Donegal Stables for $600,000 at the Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale last year. He hasn’t showed the promise in the stakes races that he did when he broke his maiden by 2-3/4 lengths at Ellis Park in Kentucky on Aug. 27. He finished well-beaten in seventh and fifth, respectively in the Futurity and Jockey Club Stakes. Record: 3-1-0-0, $59,808.

Cox’s other three noms are Air Cav (maiden winner at Horseshoe Indianapolis, earner of $40,400; Fidget (won his last two in row at Horseshoe Indianapolis against maidens and allowance-non-winners-of-two and has earned $42,340), and Gettysburg Address (maiden winner at Ellis Park and earner of $50,600).

The two locals that have been nominated and carry the largest flag for the Remington Park horses appear to be stakes winners Chasin Jason and Magic Grant. Chasin Jason is an Oklahoma-bred 2-year-old gelding by Mister Lucky Cat, out of the Surf Cat mare Frieda Zamba. He won the $50,000 Don McNeill Stakes at Remington Park on Nov. 10 by 1-3/4 lengths at one mile. The gelding is undefeated after two starts for owner-trainer Pat Swan and has earned $50,043.

Magic Grant won the $75,000 Clever Trevor Stakes here by 4-1/2 lengths at seven furlongs for owner Willis Horton Racing, breaking his maiden in the process. He is a Kentucky-bred colt by Good Magic, out of the Harlan’s Holiday mare Holiday Bertie. He has earned $45,085. Horton bought him from the Ocala Breeders’ Sale for Two-Year-Olds In Training this year.

The Springboard Mile headlines the final night of the season on Friday, Dec. 15 with a special first post of 5pm-Central.

Remington Park has provided more than $337 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 to the Springboard Mile, a Kentucky Derby points-qualifying race, on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. Remington Park presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. Parking and admission are always free. 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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