ASHFORD AIMING RUN CLASSIC FOR VANCE SPRINT AT REMINGTON PARK, MAILLOUX TO COVER OKLAHOMA DERBY DAY

The Oklahoma Derby Day program on Sept. 29 at Remington Park won’t be put together for another for another 10 days. However, possible runners for some of the stakes events are beginning to emerge.

Trainer Ray Ashford worked Run Classic a bullet five furlongs on Tuesday, Sept. 10, as the 6-year-old horse moved over the fast track in :59.62 handily. Jockey David Cabrera was up for the drill. Run Classic is being pointed to the $100,000 David M. Vance Sprint, a six-furlong affair on the Oklahoma Derby undercard.

Owned by Tom Durant of Grapevine, Texas, Run Classic has earned $445,367 in a 14-race career that has seen him develop into a quality sprinter. A son by Runhappy from the Chatain mare Pledge Pin, Run Classic won the $125,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint in February this year before running third in the $120,000 Smile Sprint at the Hallandale Beach, Fla. oval in July. In between those efforts, Run Classic was in Dubai in March for the $2,000,000 Golden Shaheen where he was seventh in that six-furlong test in the desert oasis.

Run Classic has attempted many graded races earlier in his career, finishing eighth in the 2021 Grade 2, $1,000,000 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds and third in the Grade 3, $250,000 Mineshaft Stakes in New Orleans in 2023.

Run Classic has five career wins, three places and one show in his four-year career.

Ashley Mailloux Expected to Cover Oklahoma Derby Day for FanDuel/TVG

Ashley Mailloux is expected to be a color commentator/handicapper for the TVG Network powered by FanDuel when she attends the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Mailloux grew up in the Buffalo, N.Y. area and has been around horses since she was a toddler. She has been to more than 40 tracks in her travels and has been a guest handicapper at some major tracks around the country.

The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Pegasus World Cup are just a few of the key assignments covered by Mailloux.

Since diving head-first into the broadcasting side of the industry, Mailloux has risen quickly in status. Top honors include being part of an Eclipse Award-winning crew with Horse Racing Radio Network at the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.

Mailloux went to school for a degree in mathematics from Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. After earning that Bachelor of Science in 2016, she went on to get her masters in applied mathematics, so she is a quick study when it comes to fractional times and speed numbers for horse races. She also studied statistics at the University of Dayton.

Mailloux does a regular tipsheet for the Fort Erie track in Ontario, Canada, and has worked on handicapping shows for America’s Best Racing.

Standings Going Into Week of Sept. 11-14

Jockeys – Wins
Stewart Elliott – 21
Floyd Wethey, Jr. – 13
David Cabrera – 11
Harry Hernandez – 10

Trainers – Wins
Steve Asmussen – 9
Dick Cappellucci – 6
Jayde Gelner – 6

Owners – Wins
Bryan Hawk – 6
Dick Cappellucci – 6
Richard Chandler – 4
Carl R. Moore Mgmt. – 4