CAPPELLUCCI CONTINUES SUPER SEASON AT REMINGTON PARK AS OWNER

If you can find an owner who has had a more miraculous meet than Dick Cappellucci has had so far in 2024 at Remington Park it would be difficult to believe.

When the Cappellucci-owned horse Next Revolt won the fourth race on the Thursday night, Sept. 19 at Remington Park, it moved Cappellucci’s numbers as an owner to 8-of-10 here this summer. Next Revolt his only starter of the night. Cappellucci is also the second-leading trainer for the meet with nine wins, four behind the leader Steve Asmussen, who has won the Remington Park title 18 times.

Not only does Cappellucci’s horses have an 80 percent win ratio as an owner this meet, he also boasts a 90 percent in the money ratio (first, second or third). The closest owner to those percentages, with at least 10 starts, is leading owner Bryan Hawk at 31 percent winners (9-of-29). For across-the-board percentage Hawk has hit at 48 percent (14-of-29).

TRAINER JOHN SADLER COULD POSSIBLY ENTER TWO IN OKLAHOMA DERBY
When entries are drawn tomorrow morning for the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby, two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winning trainer John Sadler is expected to enter one, and possibly two.

Sadler, who trained arguably one of the greatest horses of all time in Flightline, has committed to race in the Oklahoma Derby and he could ship Canada Gate, Indispensable, or possibly both.

“He said both are ready to run,” Remington Park stakes coordinator Don Thompson said.

Sadler, 68, trained Flightline and Accelerate to Breeders’ Cup Classic wins in 2022 and 2018, respectively. Flightline retired undefeated after six starts and was voted the Eclipse Award-winning Horse of the Year for 2022. Four of Flightline’s wins were Grade 1 stakes. Sadler is based on the West Coast.

Indispensable is a stakes-placed 3-year-old colt by Constitution, out of the Candy Ride (ARG) mare High Performer, that Sadler trains for owners Talla Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds and Edwin S. Barker. The Kentucky-bred colt has hit the board in first, second or third in 8-of-10 tries lifetime and has earned $130,200. He was purchased by his current owners for $825,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2022. Indispensable had been bought for $330,000 at the Keeneland Breeding Stock Sale in 2021 and then was pin-hooked back into the later auction.

Indispensable’s most recent start was his most impressive, a runner-up finish in the $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar near San Diego. Multiple graded stakes-winning jockey Hector Berrios was in the saddle for that effort. He was the No. 4 jockey in the final standings at Del Mar this year. What was even more remarkable about that second-place run in the Shared Belief is that he lost to Muth, who has won five-of-seven in his career and was the winner of this year’s Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. Indispensable was only a couple of lengths back of Muth at the end of the Shared Belief.

Canada Gate is Sadler’s other possibility for the Oklahoma Derby, another Constitution colt, this one a Kentucky-bred out of the Stay Thirsty mare Princess Karen. This colt was a winner in his fifth try on the West Coast, drawing away by 1-3/4 lengths as the 4-5 favorite in a $75,000 maiden special weight open race on Aug. 22. Jockey Juan Hernandez, a multiple graded stakes winner, was aboard for the ride in that win. His record for Hronis Racing is 5-1-1-1, $66,600. Canada Gate was bred by Juddmonte. He worked a bullet :59.3 for five furlongs on Sept. 14 at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Sadler’s career stat-line is 17,070 starts; 2,825 wins; 2,664 seconds and 2,303 thirds for an unbelievable $151,991,855 in horse earnings. He has won a dozen training titles in his time in California at the Golden State’s major tracks.

ARR PIRATETREASURE SCORES TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY
Every day of the calendar year is a “national day” for something. Thursday, September 19, 2024 produced a winner at Remington Park that fit the national status perfectly.

Arr Piratetreasure rallied down the stretch to win by a nose in the evening’s fifth race, perfectly placed on National Talk Like A Pirate Day. The 3-year-old filly battled to catch wagering favorite Matagora Bay in the final strides. The effort had to make any hunch player that matched Arr Piratetreasure up to the national gimmick day extremely happy as she paid $24.80 to win.

Owned by the Ooltewah, Tenn. partnership of Danele Durham, Vinny Pigue, Rockin W Racing Stable LLC and Toby Brown, Arr Piratetreasure is trained by Durham and was ridden to victory by Lindey Wade. The triumph was her career first, defeating six other females in the maiden special weight event at 6-1/2 furlongs on the main track. An Arkansas-bred by Palace Malice from the Blame broodmare Thatbossanovasound, Arr Piratetreasure has one win, one second and one third from her six career attempts.

WORKOUT – Thursday, September 19, 5 furlongs
Stakes winner Dean’s List was the bullet worker, covering five-eighths of a mile in :59.71, handily, for second-leading trainer Dick Cappellucci, on this morning, the only horse of nine to break the one-minute mark. Dean’s List is a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred horse by Speightstown, out of the Sharp Humor mare Mildly Offensive, who races for owners Judge Lanier Racing and James Drought. He was bred at WinStar Farm.

Dean’s List was a stakes winner on March 26, 2023, taking down the Bill Thomas Memorial at Sunland Park in El Paso, Texas. He won by a neck with Remington Park mainstay jockey Leandro Goncalves in the irons for Cappellucci. The chestnut horse has had two races this meet, running second and fourth with allowance horses. He seems to be on the improve, getting that runner-up finish last time out in a six-furlong sprint on the main track with jockey Harry Hernandez up. Dean’s List has a strong lifetime record of 13-5-3-0, $281,052. This ownership group bought him from the Keeneland Horse of Racing Age Sale in November 2022 for a bargain $75,000 price.

Friday, Sept. 20 is night 19 of the Remington Park season featuring three stakes races, all for Oklahoma-breds over the turf. The Remington Park Turf Sprint, the Bob Barry Memorial and the Red Earth Stakes are the main events of the evening.

Dark Afternoon will attempt to repeat his title won in last year’s RP Turf Sprint. Run Slewpy Run will seek her fourth consecutive victory in the Bob Barry Memorial. In the Red Earth, 2023 winner Tap the Dot is back but so is 2022 victor Number One Dude.
The first race tonight is 6:30pm-Central. Track is fast, turf is firm.

Remington Park has provided more than $357 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 continues through Dec. 13. The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby takes place on Sunday, Sept. 29. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

-30-