MULTIPLE GRADED STAKES WINNER SILVER PROSPECTOR IS MORNING-LINE FAVORITE IN JEFFREY A. HAWK MEMORIAL AT REMINGTON PARK

Silver Prospector, a two-time winner at Remington Park this meet and a multiple graded stakes winner, has been made the 5-2 morning line favorite for the $75,000 Jeffrey A. Hawk Memorial. The race will be the next-to-last event of the season on Friday, Dec. 13.

The final night of the season is headlined by the $300,000 Springboard Mile, Remington Park’s top 2-year-old stakes event. The race awards qualifying points to the 2025 Kentucky Derby.

Silver Prospector, a 7-year-old gray gelding, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, has turned almost white with age and would be virtually invisible in a snowstorm. His talent has filled the pockets of his owners and backers with green, however. During his career, the Kentucky-bred son of Declaration of War, out of the Tapit mare Tap Softly, has won the Grade 3 Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, and the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark., when he was on the Triple Crown trail early as a 3-year-old in 2020.

Silver Prospector has raced three times in open allowance company at Remington Park this meet, winning two of those races with leading rider Stewart Elliott in the saddle. The big gray has earned $1,662,774 in his career for owners Ed and Susie Orr of Greely, Colo. His record is 39 starts, nine victories, five seconds and five thirds. He was bred by Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm.

Talk about a nice purchase. The Orrs bought Silver Prospector from the Ocala Breeders 2-year-olds-in-training Sale in April 2019 for $190,000. He had been pinhooked back into that event after being purchased for $50,000 by Eisaman Equine from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2018.

The 4-1 second morning-line favorite for the Hawk is a shipper from the barn of trainer Ken McPeek – Denington. That 4-year-old gelded Kentucky-bred son of Gun Runner, out of the Congrats mare Stronger Than Ever, is multiple stakes placed and has earned $432,853 in his career. He was bred by his owners Fern Circles Stables and Magdalena Racing.

Denington spent this spring at Oaklawn and Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., picking up three fourth-place checks in some tough company. He finished fourth in the Grade 3, $500,000 Oaklawn Mile on March 30. Denington was also fourth in the $200,000 Knicks Go Stakes at Churchill on May 4. Both of those races were at a mile.
Denington’s most recent win came in allowance-optional/$125,000 claiming race at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Oct. 28, 2023.

The defending champion in the Hawk, U.S. Army, also has been entered, trying for the repeat for owner George A. Sharp, trainer Shawn Davis and jockey Luis Quinonez. That combo of owner-trainer-jockey won the Hawk in wire-to-wire fashion by 4-3/4 lengths as the 9-5 favorite on Dec. 15, 2023. The 4-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Army Mule, out of the War Front mare She Stays Rollin, is listed as the 6-1 fourth favorite in the morning line. He was bred by St. Elias Stables.

Sharp purchased U.S. Army for $32,000 at the Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings and Horses of All Ages Sale in 2021. The horse had originally sold for $8,000 from the Keeneland January 2021 Horses of All Ages Sale by Don Gibb. U.S. Army’s record going into the Hawk is 23 starts, six wins, six seconds and five thirds for a bankroll of $281,363.

The Jeffrey Hawk Memorial is named in honor of prominent Remington Park owner and breeder Bryan Hawk’s brother who passed away in 2017. The Hawk is the final stakes of the season for older horses at Remington Park and is at one-mile, 70 yards.

Here is the field for the Jeffrey A. Hawk Memorial with post position, horse, jockey, trainer and odds:
Denington, Rene Diaz, Ken McPeek, 4-1
C W Prize, Richard Eramia, Joe Offolter, 12-1
Number One Dude, Leandro Goncalves, Scott Young, 12-1
Logical Myth, David Cabrera, Shawn Davis, 10-1
Victory for Vets, Jose Alvarez, Bret Calhoun, 15-1
Paluxy, Floyd Wethey, Jr., Scott Young, 15-1
Silver Prospector, Stewart Elliott, Steve Asmussen, 5-2 (morning-line favorite)
U.S. Army, Luis Quinonez, Shawn Davis, 6-1
Mazuma, Belen Quinonez, Scott Young, 5-1
Fowler Blue, Edwin Maldonado, Doug O’Neill, 8-1

The Springboard Mile card features four other stakes in addition to the Hawk and the headliner, including: the $50,000 Useeit Stakes, the $50,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes, the $75,000 Toby Keith Stakes and the $75,000 She’s All In Stakes.

The Hawk is set for the 11th of 12 races on Dec. 13, leaving the gate at approximately 9:54pm. The first race on the final night of the season is at 5pm. All times are Central.

Remington Park has provided more than $370 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 year-round simulcast racing casino gaming. The 2024 Thoroughbred Season continues through Dec. 13 when the $300,000 Springboard Mile tops the final night of the season. The major 2-year-old stakes race of the season, the Springboard awards valuable 2025 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. 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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