For Immediate Release – Oklahoma City, Ok, July 20, 2023 – When the barn area gates officially opened for the upcoming Remington Park fall thoroughbred race meeting, trainer Mark Lee was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with the first bunch of horses in at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Lee, being the first in line at the backside entrance, broke a streak of three years in a row for trainer Boyd “Jobe” Caster. Lee brought in six horses in his first load and proceeded to his regular barn where he has eight stalls allocated for the meet which will run from Aug. 18 (Opening Night) through Dec. 15. Lee came back with the other two horses later to fill up his stalls.
Lee has been a longtime mainstay at Remington Park. His top horse he has trained here was Dusty Spike, who ran fourth in the Governor’s Cup Stakes to Zee Oh Six in 2005 and participated in the Oklahoma Derby. In 2022, Lee won at Remington Park with Prince Carolina J and Gypsy Rose.
“By today (Monday morning), we had 340 horses on the backside,” said a Remington Park official in the stall office. Remington Park was originally built with 1,464 stalls for horses that included a receiving barn for haul-ins and a stakes barn among the regular barns.
A total of 24-of-25 of Remington Park’s 2022 leading trainers have been allocated stalls and will return for the 2023 season. The only one not returning is Kenny Nolen, who retired after last winter. The top five returning from last year with number of stalls allotted are Karl Broberg (40); Steve Asmussen (40), the all-time winningest trainer in horse racing history and 17-time training title holder at Remington Park; Scott Young (40); Kari Craddock (34), and Robertino Diodoro (34). All were expected to be ready to roll when training for the upcoming season officially begins bright and early Friday morning.
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Tracked by more than 176,000 fans on Facebook and 10,600 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $325 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 will begin the 2023 Thoroughbred Season on Aug. 18. Remington Park presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
