TRAINER CLINT CRAWFORD FIRST TO GET HORSES ONTO TRACK AS TRAINING OPENS; TRAINER DURK PEERY GETS FIRST OFFICIAL WORKOUT

The smell of sweet feed in the barns, the sounds of horses unloading and the sizzle of bacon frying in the track kitchen accompanied Day 1 of workouts for the upcoming 2022 Remington Park American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season.

The racetrack opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning for the first time this meet and trainer Clint Crawford had two horses waiting to feel the dirt under their feet. Crawford just galloped his pair so it was left to trainer Durk Peery to get the first official workout. He did just that sending Jess Special Folly V a distance of 220 yards, breezing in a leisurely 13.28 seconds under exercise rider Kasey Ward. Peery had two other workers post times as well. The bullet work for 220 yards on Tuesday was 11.46 for Bleubird, who breezed at that distance. The 2-year-old Texas-bred Quarter Horse filly by Once in a Blu Boon, out of the Peptoboonsmal mare Metallic Cat, will be a first-time starter this meet.

Jess Special Folly V, a 3-year-old Quarter Horse filly by Apollitical Jess, out of the Tempting Dash mare Special Folly Dash, showed some promise last year, running second in a $15,000 Sam Houston Futurity trial at Sam Houston Race Park. She was beaten only three-quarters of a length in that trial with jockey Jose Vega in the irons.

She then was shipped to the mountains of Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico where she participated in the Rainbow and All American Futurity trials on July 9 and Aug. 20, respectively. She ran third, beaten a half length with jockey Agustin Silva up. Her final race was a well-beaten fifth by five lengths after she was fractious in the gate. The Oklahoma-bred filly raced for trainer Toby Keeton in those three starts but has since moved to Peery’s barn. She has earned $4,040 in those three tries.

According to Vicky Grothaus, Remington Park’s official clocker, 34 horses went to the track Tuesday, 29 of them getting official workouts, on a morning when temperatures were in the 50s under billowing cloudy skies with no sun peeking through.

Some of the trainers who got in early works for the meet were Crawford, Peery, Mike Robbins, Dee Keener, Stacy Charette-Hill, Matt Eck and Kasey Willis among others. Willis worked stakes winner Shockinglyfamous at 220 yards for a time of 12.31, breezing. The 6-year-old Texas-bred Quarter Horse by One Famous Eagle, out of the Langfuhr (TB) mare Shocktime, has raced 25 times, winning six, running second twice and third three times, banking $179,704 in his career.

Shockinglyfamous’ most impressive stakes wins came in the $130,000 Altoona Derby at Prairie Meadows in Iowa on Oct. 12, 2019, and then the $50,000 SLM Big Daddy Stakes at Remington Park on March 14, 2020.

Among the regular riders at Remington Park that showed up on Tuesday, Grothaus said three-time leading jockey in Oklahoma City, James Flores, was on board. Flores had his three-year top rider streak ended last year by Juan Pulido. Flores had broken a bone in his arm early in 2021 and got off to a slow start for the meet from which he never recovered.

Others who galloped or worked horses were Cody Wainscott, Gonzalo Gutierrez, Jesus Salazar and Paul Nieto.

Racing at Remington Park this meet is scheduled to begin normally Thursday-Saturday at 6 p.m. nightly and then Sunday at 4 p.m. Special start times include Kentucky Derby Day (May 7) and Preakness Stakes Day (May 21) when Remington Park action begins at Noon. The Champions’ Night program on May 28 will begin at 5pm. All times are Central.

Tracked by more than 167,000 fans on Facebook and 10,600 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $285 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 begins the 2022 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa racing season on March 3. Simulcast horse racing featured daily, the casino is always open! Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
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