For Immediate Release – Oklahoma City, OK – September 21, 2024 – The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby drew a field of eight this morning at Remington Park. Among the group, E J Won the Cup, with Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith named to ride. Smith will make a return to Remington Park, where he rode during the inaugural season in 1988.
The Oklahoma Derby headlines a 10-race program on Sept. 29, the lone Sunday of the Remington Park season.
Inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame in 2003, Smith’s tremendous career was still just getting started when he finished second in the jockey standings in Remington Park’s first season with 68 wins. Among his local winners then was Overage who captured two local stakes events.
After the inaugural season in Oklahoma City, Smith went on to a national riding career that took him to both coasts, multiple Grade 1 victories and mounts on legends such as these Horse of the Year greats: Zenyatta, Justify, Holy Bull, Skip Away and Azeri, to name a few. Smith also earned the Eclipse Award for Champion Jockey in 1993 and 1994.
Smith will ride E J Won the Cup in the Oklahoma Derby. He has had the mount on the colt trained by doug O’Neill in six of his last seven attempts, including wins in the $300,000 Texas Derby at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas on May 27 and the $250,000 St. Louis Derby at FanDuel in Illinois on August 24. E J Won the Cup is the top earner in the Oklahoma Derby field with $540,580 and is 4-1 in the morning-line odds.
The morning-line favorite for the Oklahoma Derby is Most Wanted at 5-2. Trained by Brad Cox, a three-time winner of Remington Park’s richest race (2019-2021), Most Wanted won the $275,000 Ellis Park Derby in Henderson, Ky. on Aug. 11. Jockey Florent Geroux, winner of the 2019 Oklahoma Derby with Owendale, is on Most Wanted as the only rider to handle him in his undefeated career of three races.
The lone graded winner in the Oklahoma Derby is Society Man, who scored the Grade 3, $400,000 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. on June 9. Third most recently in the Grade 3, $500,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park, Society Man is trained by Danny Gargan and will be Ridden by Corey Lanerie. Society Man was second in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 6, earning a spot in the Kentucky Derby where he finished 16th in the field of 20.
Society Man is 6-1 on the morning line odds.
Gargan saddled Dornoch to victory in the Grade 1, $2,000,000 Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga in upstate New York.
Flat Hanby leads the derby field in career wins with five, all consecutively from April 23 to Sept. 6 here when he won the colts/geldings division of the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap. Trained by Boyd Caster, Flat Hanby will attempt to become the third Oklahoma-bred in history to win the Oklahoma Derby, joining Clever Trevor (1989) and Shotgun Kowboy (2015). Jockey Floyd Wethey, Jr. has been named on Flat Hanby who is 15-1 in the morning-line odds.
The field, by program and post-position order, for the Oklahoma Derby, for 3-year-olds at 1-1/8 miles, with jockey, trainer and morning-line odds:
- Indispensable: Reylu Gutierrez, John Sadler, 3-1
- E J Won the Cup: Mike Smith, Doug O’Neill, 4-1
- Canada Gate: Armando Ayuso, John Sadler, 8-1
- Flat Hanby: Floyd Wethey, Jr., Boyd Caster, 15-1
- Dimatic: Stewart Elliott, Steve Asmussen, 9-2
- Most Wanted: Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 5-2 (morning-line favorite)
- Mena: David Cabrera, Shawn Davis, 20-1
- Society Man: Corey Lanerie, Danny Gargan, 6-1
The Oklahoma Derby is the 10th and final race on Sunday, Sept. 29 with a scheduled post time of 7:48pm.
Remington Park Oaks
Set for the race prior to the derby, the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks drew a field of nine 3-year-old fillies to go 1-1/16 miles. Cox also trains the morning-line favorite in this race, Alpine Princess, 5-2 odds.
Alpine Princess will make her first start since third in the $300,000 Bourbonette at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. on March 23. A daughter of Classic Empire, Alpine Princess will see the return of Geroux in the saddle. He was up for her lone stakes win in the $100,000 Untapable at Fair Grounds on Dec. 23, 2023, when she was two.
Remington Park 2023 Horse of the Meeting, Miss Code West, will use her win in the fillies division of the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap on Sept. 6 to step into the oaks. Trained by Kevin Scholl, Wethey will maintain his status as this Oklahoma-bred filly’s only jockey. Miss Code West, undefeated at Remington Park with a perfect five-for-five mark, including a win in the 2023 Trapeze Stakes when she was two, is 8-1 on the morning-line odds.
With seven career wins and earnings of $254,334, Miss Code West leads both categories of those in the oaks.
The field, by program and post-position order, for the Remington Park Oaks, for 3-year-old fillies at 1-1/16 miles, with jockey, trainer and morning-line odds:
- Chi Chi: Ramon Vazquez, Sam Wilensky, 12-1
- Candy Gray: Drayden Van Dyke, Saffie Joseph, Jr., 5-1
- Teresa’s Nightmare: Richard Eramia, Scott Young, 15-1
- Lemonesse: Stewart Elliott, Steve Asmussen, 8-1
- Change It Up: Harry Hernandez, Scott Young, 12-1
- Just Be Quiet: Walter De La Cruz, Robert Gorham, 6-1
- Miss Code West: Floyd Wethey, Jr., Kevin Scholl, 8-1
- Wonder Ride: Reylu Gutierrez, Kenneth McPeek, 3-1
- Alpine Princess: Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 5-2 (morning-line favorite)
The Remington Park Oaks is race nine on Sept. 29 with a scheduled start time of 7:14pm.
The Oklahoma Derby week of racing at Remington Park is Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 26-29. The first race nightly is 6:30pm, except for Sunday when racing starts at 3pm. All times are Central.
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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.
