OKLAHOMA DERBY WEEK at REMINGTON PARK

Most Wanted, an undefeated colt by Candy Ride (ARG), out of the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk, is the 5-2 morning line favorite for Sunday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park. He couldn’t be any more in the spotlight than he is with his connections.

His connections have had more of their share of the national limelight than most. Most Wanted is owned and was bred by Gary and Mary West of Omaha, Neb.; trained by Brad Cox and will be ridden by jockey Florent Geroux. Most Wanted will be trying to win his second derby in a row and his fourth consecutive race to begin his career.

Gary and Mary West are longtime owner-breeders on the national scene and may be best known for a heartbreaking decision made against them in the 2019 Kentucky Derby. They were the breeders and part owners of Maximum Security that year when they were thrilled beyond belief when he crossed the finish line first in the “Run for the Roses.” That thrill was dulled in a long, drawn out reviewing of the race and after much deliberation, the stewards disqualified the horse for interference during the race. The Equibase chart reads: Maximum Security veered out sharply forcing War of Will into (Remington Park Springboard Mile winner) Long Range Toddy and Bodexpress nearing the five-sixteenths pole. Maximum Security was placed 17th in the Derby that year. Maximum Security finished his career winning 9-of-14 races for $2.4 million-plus in earnings.

Brad Cox is establishing legendary status in the Oklahoma Derby as the only trainer in this race’s history to win it three years in a row. Cox, who currently stands third in the country in trainer’s horses’ earnings with more than $19 million this year, won the Oklahoma Derby every year from 2019-2021 with Owendale, Shared Sense and Warrant, respectively.

A win in this year’s Oklahoma Derby would make Cox the all-time winningest trainer in this series with four. He currently is tied with Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Famer Donnie Von Hemel, who also has three – Clever Trevor (1989) and Queen’s Gray Bee (1991) and Going Ballistic (2007).

Among Cox’s top horses he has conditioned are Knicks Go (more than $8 million earned), who was 2021 American Horse of the Year; Essential Quality, who won the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and Grade 1 Travers in 2021; Monomoy Girl, who won 14-of-17 races lifetime, including the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and Mandaloun, who was named the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner in 2021 after Medina Spirit was disqualified.

Geroux rode one of Cox’s three Oklahoma Derby winners and it was Cox’s first with Owendale. Geroux came from eighth in the early going to win with Owendale and didn’t make the lead until the stretch when he passed 40-1 longshot Sleepy Eyes Todd, 35-1 longshot Chess Chief and 4-5 wagering favorite Mucho Gusto, out of hall of fame trainer Bob Baffert’s barn. Owendale drew off to a 1-3/4 lengths victory at 2-1 odds. Owendale ran the 1-1/8 miles in 1:49.29 seconds over a fast track. It is the only win in the Oklahoma Derby for the Geroux.

“He’s a wonderful horse,” Geroux said at the time. “I wanted to make sure he was not too wide down the backstretch, so I found a nice cozy spot to wait. I was keeping my eye on Mucho Gusto because I knew he was the horse to beat.”

Geroux, now 38, has ridden such illustrious winners as Gun Runner, the 2017 American Horse of the Year and a Hall of Fame racehorse, and Monomoy Girl. He rode Gun Runner for North America’s all-time winningest trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimney Farms. Gun Runner won 12-of-19 starts (more than $15 million in earnings), including five in a row to end his career in 2018. Those five wins included victories in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic of 2017 and the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup in 2018, both with Geroux in the saddle.

How E J Won the Cup Got His Name
E J Won the Cup (4-1 in Oklahoma Derby morning line) is a winner of three derbies in his sophomore year and it turns out he just had to be a winner after whom he was named.

“E J is Erik Johnson,” trainer Doug O’Neill told horse racing writer Jennie Rees. “We’re friends and big fans of Erik Johnson. He’s a great guy; great hockey player and loves racing.”

Johnson is a current defenseman with the Philadelphia Flyers in the National Hockey League, nicknamed “The Condor” due to his 6-foot-4, 230-pound stature lurking over the opponents’ offensive threats. He won the Stanley Cup in 2022 when he was playing for the Colorado Avalanche. He was the first-ever American-born defenseman to be selected No. 1 in the 2006 NHL Entry draft.

E J Won the Cup arrived this morning to the Remington Park stable area.

His most recent victory was the St. Louis Derby on Aug. 24 (his last race). It doesn’t hurt that he has the riding skills of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, the pilot of 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, among others. Smith has ridden this Omaha Beach colt in two of his derby wins – the St. Louis and the Texas Derby at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, on May 27. The only other derby win for the colt came in the Turf Paradise Derby on March 14 with jockey Armando Ayuso getting a leg up in that one. Ayuso does have an Oklahoma Derby mount with trainer John Sadler’s Del Mar maiden winner Canada Gate (8-1). Smith finished second in the jockey standings as a regular at Remington Park in 1988, the inaugural season for the track.

The Oklahoma Derby Day program on Sunday, Sept. 29 begins at 3pm. The 10-race program features eights stakes races, the final eight on the program. An additional Pick 4 wager has been added for Sunday, beginning in race four.

Thursday, Sept. 26 racing at Remington Park features nine races with the finale over the tuff. Main track is fast, turf course is firm. The first race tonight is at 6:30pm. All times are Central.

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.

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