TRAINER JASON OLMSTEAD, JOCKEY EDWIN ESCOBEDO TEAM UP TO DOMINATE ACTION, WINNING FOUR RACES FRIDAY AT REMINGTON PARK

When jockey Edwin Escobedo won the seventh race aboard Relentless Okie among allowance company Friday night, it was the fourth trip to the winner’s circle for him on the night, all for trainer Jason Olmstead.

Escobedo had won his first jockeys’ title last year at Remington Park and Olmstead was the top trainer in the country the last couple of years in wins, but both had been off to a sluggish start here this season. Going into Friday’s racing card, Olmstead was tied for 15th in the trainers’ standings with three wins. The four victories moved him up to sole possession of fifth place at the end of the night.

Escobedo was tied for seventh in the riders’ standings with seven wins and his four scores on the evening gave him 11, moving him into fifth place, hopping over Bryan Candanosa and L. Salvador Martinez. He is only one behind Francisco Calderon in fourth with 12 wins.

Last year Escobedo’s 43 wins bested runner-up James Flores by three. Olmstead finished second in the standings, two wins behind Dee Keener’s 37. Olmstead had the most Quarter Horse wins among that breed’s trainers at Remington Park.

The duo’s big Friday began right off the bat in the first race as Escobedo booted home Cowboy Tres in the 2-year-old colt’s career debut against maidens. The son of Flying Cowboy 123 is owned by Paul Treadwell of Derby, Kan., and earned $11,463 after being bought at the Ruidoso Select Yearling sale last year for $33,000 in New Mexico. He was bred in Montana by Ralph G. Young.

The jockey-trainer combo came back in the third with another winner who was a first-time starter, Flyn Agree. That 2-year-old filly by Flying Cowboy 123 is owned by S/T Racing Stables (Tom Smith) of Barnsdall, Okla. She was a $40,000 purchase in the Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale last year and earned $11,355 for her victory. She was bred in Texas by Paragon Farms.

They then swept the sixth and seventh races with Candy for Corona and Relentless Okie, respectively. Candy for Corona, also owned by Treadwell, won a $30,000 claiming race for non-winners of two lifetime races. That 3-year-old gelding by Corona Cartel won another $13,588 for Treadwell. The gelding was bred in Oklahoma by PV Quarter Horse Farms. Relentless Okie, a 4-year-old gelding by Hes Relentless, won the toughest race of the bunch, winning a conditional allowance race. He beat the likes of Wieburg, a graded stakes place horse, and Sir James, who won the $283,000 Black Gold Lads Futurity at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., last fall. Sir James is another graded stakes place competitor.

Relentless Okie earned $18,696 from the $33,175 purse and improved lifetime to 20 starts, four wins, three seconds and six thirds for $97,609 in earnings. He is owned by Tom Maher of Pierre, S.D., who also bred the horse in Oklahoma.

Relentless Okie was sent off at 6-1 odds and paid $15.60 to win, $4.40 to place and $2.60 to show. He stopped the timer for 330 yards in :16.705 over the fast track for a speed-index of 92.

2022 ALL AMERICAN FUTURITY WINNER, HES JUDGEANDJURY, ONE OF FAVORITES FOR $60,000 BANK OF AMERICAN CHALLENGE STAKES
Remington Park will welcome 2022 All American Futurity winner Hes Judgeandjury to Oklahoma City on Sunday as one of the favorites in the estimated $60,000 Bank of America Remington Park Challenge Stakes.

The race is carded for the 10th and final race of the night and Hes Judgeandjury has been made the 5-1 fourth favorite in this tough field of older American Quarter Horses. Jockey James Flores rode him to victory in the industry’s biggest race of the year at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico on Sept. 5, 2022, a $3 million race. The now 4-year-old gelded son of Hes Relentless, out of the First Down Dash mare Crazy Down Corona, will be ridden by Calderon in Sunday’s stakes.

The gelding’s career marks because of that big win dwarf the rest of the field. He has started 15 times, winning six, running second twice and third three more times for a bankroll of $1,970,950. Last year’s winner of the race, Jess My Hocks, took home more than $33,000 for the win and if Hes Judgeandjury were to win this race with that kind of payout, he would surpass $2 million in earnings.

He is owned by Jeff Jones and Steve Holt of Guthrie, Okla., and trained by Heath Taylor. He was bred in Oklahoma by his owners.

A Tres of Eagle is the 2-1 morning line favorite in the race, coming off a third-place finish in arguably the toughest race in the country for older horses – the Champion of Champions Invitational at Los Alamitos in California on Dec. 9, 2023. He is owned by Bella Vista Farms (Fred Helmuth) of Arcola, Ill., and trained by Eddie Lee “Bubba” Willis. He will be ridden by Jhaciel Soto.

Live racing continues Saturday night with a first post time of 6 p.m. Sunday’s first post is 4 p.m.

Remington Park has provided more than $345 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 Remington Park Futurity for Oklahoma-breds is featured on April 27. The 2024 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season continues through June 1. starts its 50-date season. 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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