UNDEFEATED MISS CODE WEST VOTED HORSE OF MEETING

Riding the wave of her undefeated season and three stakes victories at Remington Park, the Oklahoma-bred 2-year-old filly Miss Code West was voted Horse of the Meeting for the 2023 Thoroughbred season.

Horse of the Meeting and the divisional champion awards were voted by ballot from media covering Remington Park racing and members of the track racing operations team.

Bolstered by her step into an open-company win in the Trapeze Stakes, the daughter of Code West, out of the Kipling mare Inca Miss, received the most votes as champion in three different categories – Horse of the Meet, 2-year-old Female, and Oklahoma-bred.

Prior to the Trapeze, Miss Code West had won the Slide Show Stakes and the Oklahoma Classics Lassie and a maiden race, all restricted to state-bred company.

The Trapeze Stakes would prove the worth of this filly, owned by Jeffry and Julie Puryear of Denton, Texas, trained by Kevin Scholl and ridden to all four victories by jockey Floyd Wethey, Jr. Miss Code West was a unanimous choice as both 2-year-old filly and Oklahoma-bred.

Miss Code West’s most memorable trip to the winner’s circle came in the race that meant the most. She handled her first stakes test against open-company rivals by pulling away to an impressive 6-3/4 lengths win in the Trapeze.

The Trapeze is Remington Park’s top open company stakes event for 2-year-old fillies. The barn of the all-time winningest trainer in North American racing history, Steve Asmussen’s, shipped in stakes winner Tx Women for Arts, who raced a distant second in the Trapeze.

The talented Miss Code West was sent to the lead from the start and had company up front through the first six furlongs of the one-mile Trapeze from Tx Women for Arts who tried to keep the pressure on the Oklahoma-bred, but it was not to be. Once she left the second turn, Miss Code West showed a kick that was unmatched, drawing off down the stretch to score easily as Wethey throttled her run down over the final strides.

Miss Code West made $45,000 for her Trapeze victory to up her total earnings to $140,694. She was bred in Oklahoma by Bryan Hawk and purchased at the 2022 Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling Sale for $12,000.

Scholl said Miss Code West, after a short rest, could show up at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., on their 3-year-old filly stakes trail.

Otto the Conqueror – Champion 2-Year-Old Male
Otto the Conqueror and Glengarry battled eyeball-to-eyeball most of the way in the Remington Park cornerstone race for 2-year-olds, the Springboard Mile, with Otto gaining the edge at the end to win the race and 10 Kentucky Derby points.

Trainer Steve Asmussen won the battle of the shippers in the Springboard and his 2-year-old colt Otto the Conqueror, a son of Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, out of the Shackleford mare Dream It is, earned $180,000 and improved his record to four starts, three wins and a second for owners Three Chimneys Farm of Midway, Ky., and $337,360 in earnings.

Otto the Conqueror was bred in Kentucky by Hoolie Racing Stable and was purchased for $450,000 from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2022. Otto the Conqueror’s sire, Street Sense, won the Kentucky Derby in 2007 and his maternal grandsire Shackleford won the Preakness in 2011.

How Did He Do That – Champion 3-Year-Old Male
Winner of one of the most thrilling Oklahoma Derbies ever, How Did He Do That earned the top 3-year-old male honor in addition to the race trophies.

How Did He Do That chased the early pace in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby and then made his winning move under jockey Stewart Elliott in the stretch, holding off Red Route One and Tumbarumba in a three-horse, nose to nose to nose finish.

Owned by J. Kirk and Judy Robison of El Paso, Texas, How Did He Do That is trained by Steve Asmussen. He is a colt by Good Magic from the Storm Cat mare Stormin Maggy, bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings.

Medalla Match – Champion 3-Year-Old Female
Medalla Match was perfect in her campaign at Remington Park, starting three times, all over the turf, and scoring the Ricks Memorial in the process to earn top 3-year-old female honors.

Owned by Twisted Chaps Racing Stales of Edmond, Okla. and trained by Michael Biehler, Medalla Match also won two allowance events. Her triumph in the Ricks was the biggest of the season but her score in an allowance on Aug. 25 was significant for Biehler as it was his 1,000th career training win.

A 5-year-old mare by Summer Front from the Bernardini broodmare Channel of Gold, Medalla Match was bred in Kentucky by Jane Wiggins.

Fly To The Bank – Champion Older Male
Two stakes wins gave Fly To The Bank the edge in the award for Champion Older Male.

The 6-year-old gelding by Euroears from eh Kingkiowa mare Take It and Fly was bred in Oklahoma by James Helzer. He scored his second consecutive Oklahoma Classics Sprint and also triumphed for a second straight year in the Silver Goblin Stakes. Both races are for Oklahoma-breds with the Classics Sprint at six furlong and the Silver Goblin at 6-1/2 furlongs.

Fly to the Bank is owned by Juan Gallegos of Edmond, Okla. and is trained by Steve Martin.

Dicey – Champion Older Female
Dicey compiled a three-race winning streak, including a score in the Oklahoma Classics Distaff Sprint, to earn top Older Female honors.

Owned by Pat Swan and Judith Lewis of Jones, Okla. and trained by Swan, the 7-year-old Dicey was too tough in winning an allowance sprint at six furlongs on Sept. 15, the Classics Distaff Sprint on Oct. 20 and another allowance sprint at 6-1/2 furlongs on Nov. 11 to gain the divisional honor.

A daughter of Flat Out from the Broken Vow mare Broken Blues, Dicey was bred in Oklahoma by John James Revocable Living Trust.

Albizu – Champion Sprinter
Albizu won the premier stakes sprint, the David M. Vance, at Remington Park this meet and owner Jerry Caroom of Houston, Texas, was thrilled and now he has one more thing to be happy about, a champion in his stable. Caroom had always wanted to win the David Vance because the track’s founding president and he have been friends since the track opened in 1988. This 5-year-old ridgling by Include, out of the City Zip mare Insuperable, was dawdling in last down the backstretch of the Vance before exploding to the lead down the stretch.

Last year’s riding champion at Remington Park, Cristian Torres, rode Albizu to the Vance win. Trainer Robertino Diodoro claimed this horse for $50,000.

Albizu earned $60,000 from the Vance purse and improved his record to 21 starts, six wins, seven seconds and four thirds for a bankroll of $374,002. He was bred in Kentucky by 47 Roses. It was the first stakes win of his career.

Sunlit Song – Champion Turf Performer
Sunlit Song won the Remington Green Stakes in 2020, but it took the old man three years to return to the winner’s circle in this stakes race again, taking it for a second time on Sept. 24 this season. The fans made him an overwhelming 2-5 favorite and he won by a half-length over Paluxy, who was a candidate for Older Champion Male this year. Sunlit Song, an 8-year-old gelded son of My Golden Song, out of the Early Flyer mare Fly So True, raced only once at this meet. He ran out of turf races because of the weather and the course closing for the season.

Jockey Stewart Elliott sat in mid-pack in the with the odds-on choice and then sprang on his opponents like a lion on a wildebeest down the stretch in the Remington Green. Trainer Mindy Willis was emotional about the victory and now has reason to wipe away tears of joy again with her champion turfer.

Sunlit Song earned $45,000 from the Remington Green purse for owners Carolyn Barnett and Becky Harding of Pollok, Texas, and improved his career record to 42 starts, 18 wins, 12 seconds and four thirds for $731,018 in earnings. He was bred in Texas by Barnett.

Don’task Don’ttell – Champion Claimer
This 9-year-old champion gelding by To Honor and Serve, out of the Horse Chestnut (SAF) mare Askbut I Won’ttell, apparently has a secret. Don’t ask, but he will tell you he has an affinity for the barn of North America’s all-time leading trainer Steve Asmussen.

Don’task Don’ttell won all three $20,000 claiming races when he was stabled with Asmussen’s crew this meet. His only loss, a fifth-place finish in $20,000 claiming company, was a race after he was claimed from Asmussen for that price. Asmussen claimed him back in that fifth-place finish and the old fighter won his third race of the meet from his former comfy stall.

Don’task Don’ttell finished the meet with a record of 52 races lifetime, 18 firsts, eight seconds and five thirds for $449,317 for Asmussen, who also owns the gelding.

Remington Park has provided more than $340 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. 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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