For Immediate Release – Oklahoma City, Ok, December 18, 2022 – Rowdy Rascal awakened from his deep sleep in the $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes on Saturday night after being one of the top 2-year-old Oklahoma-breds on the grounds last year.
In his three races at Remington Park this year prior to the Jim Thorpe, the 3-year-old son of Den’s Legacy (Medaglia d’Oro), out of the Affirmatif mare Dancing Diva, had been beaten a combined 44 lengths in three stakes races for Oklahoma-breds. All that went out the door Saturday night as Rowdy Rascal returned to his 2021 form that saw him win the Oklahoma Classics Juvenile Stakes and the Don McNeill Stakes in October and November last year. The only difference was that on those two nights he went off at 7-5 and 7-2 odds. On Saturday night, he was all but forgotten at 12-1 odds.
It was the first win in the Jim Thorpe Stakes for all connections – owner J.T. Stables of Springdale, Ark., trainer Boyd “Jobe” Caster and jockey Alfredo Triana, Jr. The Jim Thorpe is for 3-year-old Oklahoma-breds at one mile.
Rowdy Rascal had not won a race in more than a year at Remington Park with his last trip to the winner’s circle on Nov. 12, 2021, in that Don McNeill win. Triana sent him straight to the front in the one-mile race Saturday night and cruised to a 1-3/4 lengths victory, making every pole a winning one. He set fractions of :24.36 for the first quarter-mile, :48.77 for the half-mile, 1:13.60 for three-quarters of a mile, 1:26.46 for seven-eighths of a mile and final time of 1:40.03 on the fast track.
Rowdy Rascal rewarded those that believed in him, returning $26.40 to win, $11 to place and $6 to show across the board to his backers. He earned $42,000 for J.T. Stables and improved lifetime to 15 starts, five wins, one second and two thirds for $224,734 earned. He is now four for eight at Remington Park on the main track. He was bred in Oklahoma by Harmony Stable.
Beckett’s Luckyday (6-5 beaten favorite) got up for second, a half-length in front of third-place finisher Inca Empire (7-2).
The Jim Thorpe Stakes is named after the native Oklahoman and Olympic gold-medalist who was considered the greatest athlete of the 20th century.
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Tracked by more than 172,000 fans on Facebook and 10,700 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $311 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 features simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
