TRAINER SAMMY VALDIVIA SENDS OUT TELLER IMA EAGLE, FASTEST WINNER ON FIRST DAY OF REMINGTON PARK TRAINING RACES
Trainer Sammy Valdivia sent out the fastest winner of the day from 11 training races at Remington Park on Wednesday, a 2-year-old Quarter Horse named Teller Ima Eagle, from the One Famous Eagle bloodlines.
This was the first day for unraced horses in schooling races for the upcoming American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa race meet that begins March 3.
With jockey Cody Wainscott in the saddle for owner Guerra Racing, Teller Ima Eagle, a 2-year-old colt by This Is An Eagle, out of the Teller Cartel mare Teller Baja, stopped the timer for 250 yards in :13.550 seconds. The effort over the fast track was fastest time of the day, earning a speed index of 81. He did that with a tail wind of 12 mph, under sunny skies with the temperature at 67 degrees.,
Although his sire is somewhat unheralded at this point, there is no doubt that this winner from Valdivia’s barn has some of the genes passed along by grandsire, champion One Famous Eagle, who won $1,387,453 in his racing career. He has sired 61 stakes winners, five champions and three All American Futurity winners. His progeny have earned in excess of $27 million in their careers.
Teller Ima Eagle finished a full length in front of his competitors in the 10th of 11 training races. His sire, This Is An Eagle, was never a Grade 1 winner, but he did win trials for the All American Futurity and the Rainbow Futurity, both Grade 1 races. He was the winner of the Grade 2 Sam Houston Futurity at Sam Houston Race Park and was undefeated in his 2-year-old year through August. Through a career of 12 starts, he ran first or second in eight of those tries, finishing with earnings of $316,350. This Is An Eagle stands at Granada Farms near Wheelock, Texas, for an advertised stud fee of $1,000.
Wasting Light, a 2-year-old colt from the barn of 12-time training title winner Eddie Willis, had the second-fastest time of the day of :13.690 and a 76 speed index. Wasting Light competed in the first training race of the session.
Willis has won the last three training titles during Remington Park’s spring season, and 12 overall here. It appears he has at least one swift runner from his 2-year-old stock in Wasting Light. The juvenile Quarter Horse colt’s talent might have been predicted, however, looking at his pedigree. He is by The Marfa Lights, out of the Foose mare Foose Who and is owned by Zynda Racing.
In 2016, The Marfa Lights qualified for the finals of the Grade 1, $3 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, winning his trial impressively by more than two lengths. He came back in the All American Futurity final and was the runner-up to Imperial Eagle, losing only by a neck. Like his sire, Wasting Light, is showing strong promise as a 2-year-old, winning his training race under jockey Justine Klaiber by three-quarters of a length.
A total of 79 horses went to post on Wednesday in the 11 prep races on a day that began at 57 degrees with little to no wind and temperatures that rose into the high 60s with mostly a tailwind from 9-12 mph. All finishing times were hand-timed.
The other Quarter Horse winners on the day and their times and speed indexes were:
Kati On Fire (:13.770, 73); Wagon N Treasure (:13.780, 72); RGS Gold Wagon (:13.860, 69); Mr James Ivory (:13.870, 69); FG Running Cartel (:13.890, 68), and Capis Renegade (:13.920, 67). There were two races that were designated Paints and Appaloosas and those two winners were Wired Hot Bentley (:13.880, 68) and Signs of Live Wire (:14.090, 60).
Racing at Remington Park this meet is scheduled to run a schedule of Thursday-Saturday at 6 p.m. nightly and 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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