FIELD OF 12 SET FOR SPRINGBOARD MILE FOR SUNDAY AT REMINGTON PARK

Remington Park’s top 2-year-old stakes event, the $400,000 Springboard Mile, drew a maximum field of 12 for Sunday’s final race date of the Thoroughbred Season. The Springboard headlines a 13-race program with five additional stakes races on the card that begins at 3pm-Central.

The Springboard is the final 2-year-old race on the American stakes calendar that awards valuable qualifying points for the 2020 Kentucky Derby. The Springboard Mile winner earns 10 points with four for second-place, two for third-place and one for fourth-place. A competitor from the Springboard Mile has started in the Kentucky Derby in three of the last four years, including Long Range Toddy, winner of the 2018 Springboard.

Trainer Brad Cox has entered Answer In to the Springboard and named National Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano for the mount. A Kentucky-bred gelding by Dialed In from the Broken Vow mare D’ya Knowwhatimean broke his maiden status in his second career attempt on Oct. 27 at Churchill Downs, winning a seven-furlong maiden special weight race by a widening 5-1/4 lengths. Owned by Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables, Answer In has been installed as the morning-line favorite for the Springboard Mile, by odds-maker Rick Lee.

Rowdy Yates, a 2-year-old Oklahoma-bred colt by Morning Line, out of the Yes It’s True mare Spring Station, has won twice this meet at Remington Park, taking the $100,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile on Oct. 18 and the $75,000 Don McNeill Memorial Stakes on Nov. 15, both races restricted to Oklahoma-breds. The latter was at the same mile distance he will run in the Springboard. Rowdy Yates is second in the morning-line at 7-2 odds and is trained by National Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, also a member of the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Remington Park.

Rowdy Yates also has made a splash on the national scene, winning the $100,000 Ellis Park Juvenile on Aug. 18 at seven furlongs, running second in the Grade 3, $125,000 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs in June, and also running fifth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile post-time favorite, Dennis’ Moment, in the Grade 3, $200,000 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs in September.

Rowdy Yates was a bargain purchase by L and N Racing of Tulsa, Okla., who bought him at the 2018 October Fasig-Tipton Sale for $42,000. His pedigree isn’t the kind you’ll find on horses that sell in the millions or even hundred-thousands.

“We had a tip that he was going to be a nice horse at the sale,” one of the owners, Lee Levinson said. “He’s a (sire) Morning Line, out of a nothing mare and people thought we were crazy to give forty-some-thousand for him. We just thought he was good looking and we rolled the dice, hoping to get lucky.”

Rowdy Yates has a career record of six starts with four wins and one second for a bankroll of $210,898. He tops the Springboard field in wins and total earnings. The colt will be ridden by Richard Eramia who has been up for both of his triumphs this season at Remington Park.

Trainer Michael Stidham has entered Embolden, a gray colt owned by Dare To Dream Stable (Michael Faber) and was bred in Virginia by Nancy L. Terhune & Ernest Frohboese. Embolden is a son of The Factor, out of the Lion Hearted mare Silver Heart, and has won two races in five starts, run second twice and third once for earnings of $137,000. Jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. will be up on the third morning-line horse at 9-2 odds.

Embolden broke his maiden in August at Colonial Downs in Virginia after running second in his first try at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. He was an easy 10-length winner in his second outing and then won again in the $100,000 Jamestown Stakes at Colonial in his next start by 3-3/4 lengths. That stakes race was restricted to Virginia-breds and he was the 2-5 wagering favorite at post time. Since that win, he has dipped his toe in deeper waters, moving on to Belmont Park and Aqueduct in New York. He ran third in the Grade 3, $150,000 Belmont Futurity on Oct. 6 and then second in the $100,000 Atlantic Beach Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 9.

Shoplifted comes to the Springboard Mile off a seventh-place effort in the Grade 1, $2,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita Park in southern California on Nov. 1. Another from the Asmussen barn, Shoplifted is owned by the partnership of Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables and LNJ Foxwoods.

The last three attempts for Shoplifted were all in Grade 1 stakes events. He was second in the $350,000 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 2, 6-1/2 lengths behind Basin in the seven-furlong event, contested over a sloppy track. Shoplifted was then fifth in the $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 27, prior to his Breeders’ Cup attempt.

Jockey Ricardo Santana was on Shoplifted in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and was also up when he broke his maiden at first-asking at Saratoga on July 27. Santana has posted big numbers when competing during Remington Park’s biggest stakes days in recent years. He won seven races here in September during the Oklahoma Derby Day program, tying a record for jockey victories on one racing program at Remington Park.

Shoplifted, a Kentucky-bred colt by Into Mischief from the Yes It’s True mare Shopit is at 5-1 odds in the morning-line.

Trainer Wesley Ward, always a fixture nationally with top 2-year-olds, sent Maximiliano via a flight from Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon. A son of Quality Road, out of the Louis Quatorze mare Ben’s Boots. He is owned by Andrew Farm and For the People Racing Stable and was bred in Kentucky by Martha Jane Mulholland.

Maximiliano has had only two starts lifetime, running a distant second in his career debut at Saratoga in upstate New York in September, finishing nine lengths back after carrying the lead halfway through the 5-1/2 furlongs sprint. He came back to win a maiden special weight race at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. by a head, sprinting six furlongs.

Maximiliano has earned $60,600 in his two starts. Jockey Martin Garcia is in for the mount who is at 5-1 odds in the morning-line.

Jungle Runner is a colt by Candy Ride (ARG), out of Tapit mare Minx, and carries bluer bloodlines but not quite the resume as his other stable-mates from Asmussen’s barn. Still, Jungle Runner appears to be a runner on his way up the ladder as he has gone from winning a maiden special weight race here at Remington Park directly into stakes-company, winning the $100,000 Clever Trevor Stakes on Nov. 1. He is owned by Calumet Farm in Kentucky and was bred there by his owners.

Jungle Runner’s record is four races with two wins for $81,165 in earnings. He has had four different jockeys in his four starts. Ramon Vazquez will have the call, just as he did in winning the Clever Trevor Stakes on Jungle Runner.

The field for the Springboard Mile, by post-position and program order, with trainer, jockey and morning-line odds:
1. Piece Of Work: Allen Milligan, Luis Quinonez, 12-1
2. Alternate Time: Bret Calhoun, Stewart Elliott, 20-1
3. Rowdy Yates: Steve Asmussen, Richard Eramia, 7-2
4. Answer In: Brad Cox, Javier Castellano, 5-2 (morning-line favorite)
5. Jungle Runner: Steve Asmussen, Ramon Vazquez, 15-1
6. Shipman’s Song: Michael Biehler, Lori Keith, 30-1
7. Southgate: Scott Young, Floyd Wethey, 30-1
8. Embolden: Michael Stidham, Brain Hernandez, 9-2
9. Shoplifted: Steve Asmussen, Ricardo Santana, 5-1
10. Maximiliano: Wesley Ward, Martin Garcia, 5-1
11. Kirkcules: Kari Craddock, Lane Luzzi, 30-1
12. Slew Tang Clan: Kevin Scholl, Dakota Wood, 50-1

Overall, the 12 horses entered for the Springboard Mile have made 45 starts with 17 wins and total earnings of $946,265. Rowdy Yates and Southgate share the most starts with six each. Asmussen leads all trainers with three entries in the race. The lone maiden in this year’s Springboard is Slew Tang Clan who has managed a pair of second-place finishes from four attempts.

The Springboard Mile is the 12th of 13 races on Sunday with a scheduled post time of 8:19pm.
The final six races on Sunday are stakes events, including:
Race 8: $100,000 Trapeze Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, one mile
Race 9: $100,000 She’s All In Stakes, fillies and mares, 3 and older, 1 mile-70 yards
Race 10: $70,000 Useeit Stakes, 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred fillies, one mile
Race 11: $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes, 3-year-old Oklahoma-breds, one mile
Race 13: $100,000 Jeffrey Hawk Memorial, 3 and older, 1 mile-70 yards

The final week of the Remington Park Thoroughbred is Wednesday through Sunday, Dec. 11-15. The first race nightly is at 7pm except for the Springboard Mile program on Sunday, underway at 3pm.

Tracked by more than 160,000 fans on Facebook and more than 10,100 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $237 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 is the home of the $400,000 Springboard Mile, the richest 2-year-old stakes of the season, on Sunday, Dec. 15. The Springboard Mile is a points race to determine qualifiers for the 2020 Kentucky Derby. For more information, reservations and group bookings please call 405-424-1000, 866-456-9880 or visit remingtonpark.com.

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