OKLAHOMA HORSE RACING HALL OF FAME TRAINER JOE OFFOLTER WORKS OKIE CODE AT REMINGTON PARK

Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Joe Offolter returns to Remington Park for the upcoming fall thoroughbred race meeting with a couple of nice stakes horses in his barn – Take Me Serious and Faith Alone. The meet begins Friday, Aug. 16.

It was a horse of the lesser ranks that he sent out Friday for an official workout, under sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-70s. Okie Code, who was the only horse on the tab with an official time, posted a short breeze while all others merely galloped over the track. Okie Code, a 4-year-old filly by Code West, out of the Cavvy mare Pippa Okie, stopped the timer in :36.06 for three furlongs under gallop boy Bonifacio Quiroz, who has been a jockey at Remington Park during the American Quarter Horse season.

“He knows all horses,” said Offolter. “She gave a good effort and is doing good. We turned her out to get her freshened up for this meet. Nothing was wrong with her, we just wanted her to be fresh for this start.”

Okie Code, owned by Bryan Hawk of Shawnee, Okla., has won 2-of-12 starts lifetime with her best race at Remington Park being a third-place finish among claiming company Nov. 2, 2023, here. She broke her maiden at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., in the spring of 2023 and then won again there this spring on April 23 among claimers.

Sports of all kinds run in Offolter’s family. His wife, Karen, who retired as vice president of Republic Bank of Norman six years ago, loves to spend her leisure time coming to the races at Remington Park.

“Oh, she just loves the horse races; she probably won’t let me retire,” he said. “She loves going so much and when she’s at the races, you can be assured the handle is going to go up.”

Karen and Joe, who reside on their place in Dibble, are coming up on their 40th wedding anniversary in January. On Aug. 30, Joe will turn 65 years old.

“Yeah, I’ll officially be an old man on Medicare then,” he laughed.

Offolter’s son, Jacob, who coached high school football in Oklahoma until this summer, “had some offers to coach and teach, but he had a really bad car accident,” and hasn’t been able to accept a new job.

“A guy pulled out in front of him and his tire caught the culvert when he swerved and it flipped him,” Joe said. “He rolled six times. Lucky to be alive, yes. He broke six ribs and had to have his spleen removed.”

The sports angle for the family doesn’t end there, however. Offolter said his granddaughter Hailey, 24, was a Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader in their first Super Bowl win with quarterback Patrick Mahomes. His baseball-playing grandson Zimmer is 15 years old “and is 6-feet-2 and already throws 86 mph,” Joe said. “He’s going to be something. For the past two weeks he has been playing on a travel ball team in Atlanta and Alabama.”

It seems the talent is endless when it comes to the Offolters. Joe is excited about Take Me Serious and Faith Alone as they prepare for Remington Park’s meet.

Take Me Serious, a 5-year-old mare by Munnings, out of the After Market mare Southern Equity, has won 5-of-12 lifetime for $162,313 in earnings. Her trips to the winner’s circle include breaking her maiden in 2021 at Remington Park and since is a multiple stakes winner. She captured the Miranda Diane Stakes and the More Than Even Stakes, both at Will Rogers Downs this spring. This Oklahoma-bred mare is also owned by Hawk.

Faith Alone, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Liam’s Map, out of the Kitten’s Joy mare Bitty Kitty, has won 4-of-14 starts lifetime for $136,714 in earnings.

“She won a Handicap at Prairie Meadows in Iowa for us (May 17, 2024),” Offolter noted.

At Remington Park, Faith Alone finished second in the She’s All In Stakes on Dec. 15, 2023, losing by 2-1/2 lengths to Perfect Wish, who was ridden to victory by Luis Saez for trainer Jayde Gelner on closing night last year. That was going 1 mile-70 yards on the main track. Faith Alone is owned by Chasing the Wind Racing.

If Offolter’s past performance at Remington Park and in Oklahoma racing is any indication of how they will do this meet, the barn is in for another nice haul. Offolter has been training horses at Remington Park for 37 years, since the track opened in 1988. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Remington Park in 2017.

In the 1970s, prior to becoming a trainer, Offolter worked constructing microwave communication towers, sometimes being suspended 200 feet above ground. It was lucrative financially, but in 1985, he and Karen turned to the safer occupation of horses, owning a horse that ran at Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, Okla. The training began in 1988. It was a brilliant decision.

Offolter won his first Remington Park stakes race in the 1996 Prevue Stakes with Demand Deposit, followed by many more stakes winners – Miss Natalie in the Oklahoma Classics Distaff Sprint (2012), Capture the Flag in the Oklahoma Classics Turf (2011), Rosemaui in the Oklahoma Classics Distaff Turf (2007 and 2008), and Strawbailey in the Ricks Memorial (2002 and 2003). His top money earner was Holiday Mischief who finished his career winning 13-of-71 for $382,975 in earnings.

Through mid-July, Offolter has won 19 races this year, with horse earnings of $473,333. He has accumulated 1,216 career victories for total earnings of $19,046,576. At Remington Park, Offolter has won 591 races at Remington Park with earnings here of $9,051,219.

Remington Park has provided more than $354 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 will begin on August 16. 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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