TRAINER FRANCISCO BRAVO SENDS OUT FIRST HORSE TO TRACK TO GALLOP WITH CALEB’S POSSE FILLY MI SONRISA
Trainer Francisco Bravo had the first horse on the track Tuesday morning for Remington Park’s upcoming meet and she is a filly who might just live up to her name of Mi Sonrisa.
In English, that means My Smile. This 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred daughter of Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Caleb’s Posse, out of the Hansen mare R Lady Hansen, was bred in-state by Bravo and Dale Schenian. She has run twice in her career, finishing third at 6 furlongs and one mile, both races at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas this summer. She tried 6 furlongs her first time out on June 9 and lost by 5-1/4 lengths. In her subsequent start on July 12, and as her pedigree suggested, she improved at the one-mile distance. With Floyd Wethey, Jr., in the saddle, she ran third again, but this time the filly only lost by 2-1/4 lengths and she had the lead deep into the stretch.
“That was against open maiden competition down there,” said Bravo, 69, who owns River Oaks Farms in Sulphur, Okla., with his wife of 44 years, Lori.
One has to wonder if this Oklahoma-bred filly is going to be as good as another filly the Bravos owned and trained, Lady Orchid. That Oklahoma-bred filly won back-to-back stakes races at Remington Park in 2019. She captured the Oklahoma Stallion Stakes for fillies on Sept. 13, 2019, and then followed that with a win in the Useeit Stakes on Dec. 15, 2019. Jockey Iram Diego won on her in the Stallion Stakes and Ramon Vazquez was the winner in the Useeit Stakes.
“We are taking it one day at a time with her,” said Bravo. “Lady Orchid was pretty special. We’ll see. I don’t like to project things like that on a young runner. But she’s pretty good. She handled the surface well this morning.”
It was a mere gallop for Mi Sonrisa as official workouts at Remington Park don’t start until Wednesday morning. Her last workout at Lone Star Park that made the work tab showed an inclination of her talent. She worked 5 furlongs on June 28 and got the bullet (fastest time of the day at the distance) in 1:00.10 breezing.
Bravo’s top horse in his 32 years of training, according to Equibase statistics, has been Dame Plata, an 8-year-old gelding that is still in training and will likely run at Remington Park this meet. Dame Plata is a multiple stakes winner, who won in black type races at Canterbury Park in Minnesota and at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla. He took the Highland Ice Stakes there.
Dame Plata, a gelded son of Cross Traffic, out of the Lucky Lionel mare Dana’s Lucky Lady, has started 42 times in his career, winning 12, running second seven other times and third six times for earnings of $429,188.
“As an 8-year-old, that may seem old to some, but we don’t run our horses that often and it keeps them sound,” Bravo said. “Lori is very attached to him and he has been so good to us.”
Don’t count out the Bravos from having an excellent meet at Remington Park as they seem to be walking around under a lucky star. They got their horses out of Will Rogers Downs about a week before that track was virtually destroyed by a tornado May 25 in which the grandstand roof was blown off, the toteboard was demolished, several barns were totaled and RVs in the parking lot were overturned on their sides. They also dodged the tornado that hit Sulphur on April 27, missing their farm by less than a mile. One woman was killed in that twister and the historic downtown tourist area of Sulphur was virtually wiped off the map.
“The Sulphur tornado was approaching us from the south at Highway 177 and when it got about a mile away from us, it suddenly veered to the right,” he said. “It was the most devastating tornado Sulphur ever had. We had neighbors and friends who lost a lot, but we weren’t touched. We went and helped them clean up that week.”
It can sometimes be tough to get Francisco to boast about his horses. He is not one who seeks the spotlight, but bring up another subject and he shines like the sun – the Bravos’ daughter Natalie.
“She graduated at the Oklahoma School for the deaf in Sulphur and now she works there,” he said. “It’s the reason we chose Sulphur to build our farm there in 2007. “I think Natalie is the only person who has ever gone to that school and then dedicated her life to working there. We are so proud of her. She is a very cool person.”
Horses of all kinds have been the center of Bravo’s universe since he was a kid. When he was in his 20s, he met his wife Lori when he was showing Quarter Horses.
“Her dad was an auctioneer for horses and cattle and I just couldn’t keep my eyes off his daughter,” Bravo said.
Many of the horses he trains are owned by Lori. The question came up about what percentage of horses he trains are owned by her and he laughed.
“All the good ones,” he said, chuckling. “That’s a family joke. She grabs the ones that gallop well. It’s OK. I really don’t care. I’m doing OK.”
Bravo has been allotted 30 stalls at Remington Park and will use them all. Some of the horses he is excited about include Sangria Sunset, a 3-year-old filly who has won one-of-three starts so far, and 3-year-old gelding Washita Valley, another by Caleb’s Posse who ran second in his only start.
Remington Park has provided more than $354 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 simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. The 2024 Thoroughbred Season will begin on August 16. 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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