Most Wanted gives Cox record 4th Oklahoma Derby
Remington Park stakes recap by Richard Linihan (Dustin Orona/Remington Park photo above of Most Wanted winning Oklahoma Derby)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Most Wanted fought hard down the stretch, even being passed slightly by E J Won the Cup, but when all was said and done, he prevailed to win the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sunday night at Remington Park. Most Wanted gave his trainer Brad Cox his fourth win in the race.
That victory for Cox moved him out of a tie with Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Famer Donnie Von Hemel with three apiece. Cox, currently No. 3 in the country in the trainers’ standings by money earned, had won the Oklahoma Derby three years in a row from 2019-2021 with Owendale, Shared Sense and Warrant. Von Hemel won the Derby with Clever Trevor and Queen’s Gray Bee in 1989 and 1991, respectively, back when the race was called the Remington Park Derby and was held in the spring. Von Hemel’s last trip to the winner’s circle in this race came in 2007 with Going Ballistic after the race’s name was changed to the Oklahoma Derby and switched to the fall.
Jockey Florent Geroux won the race for the second time, having guided home Owendale for Cox in 2019. Geroux and his mount Sunday, Most Wanted, were both surprised when E J Won the Cup approached them in the stretch after they had taken an easy lead.
“When I got into the stretch, he was just trying to figure some things out,” Geroux said. “When (jockey) Mike (Smith) joined me on the lead (with E J Won the Cup), my horse turned his ears and threw his head up in the air. When (Most Wanted) was able to look (E J Won the Cup) in the eyes, you could tell my horse gave me an expression like he knew he was ahead of us.”
At that point, with about a sixteenth of a mile to go, Most Wanted re-broke, taking back the lead as the two horses approached the wire. E J Won the Cup, ridden by Horse Racing Hall of Famer Mike Smith, couldn’t make up that lost ground as Most Wanted dug in and the winner hit the finish line one length ahead of his competitor.
Smith was riding at Remington Park for the first time since he rode here regularly in 1988, the year the track opened.
“I can barely remember a thing about riding here when I was that young,” Smith said, and after looking at his picture from 1988 with a bouffant hair do and pencil thin moustache, he laughed. “I had a little hair then and a moustache, yes, but all that’s gone now like my memories here. I didn’t even remember there was a zoo across the street.”
Most Wanted and Smith’s mount, E J Won the Cup, were at each other like a couple of lions fighting over raw meat at the zoo. In the end, Most Wanted, wanted it most.
Geroux made some pretty good excuses for Most Wanted, who is now four-for-four in his career for owners Gary and Mary West, who also bred him in Kentucky.
“It was his first time (to race) under the lights, first time shipping this far, first time around two turns,” he said. “He had a lot to think about.”
All he had to think about afterward was taking his picture in the winner’s circle. The winner covered the distance of 1-1/8th miles in 1:49.46 on the fast track, earning $240,000 for the Wests. After four starts, the 3-year-old son of Candy Ride (ARG), out of the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk, has banked $519,553.
“He is going to be a very interesting horse moving forward,” Geroux said.
Most Wanted’s other three wins came in Kentucky, against maidens at Churchill Downs on June 21, then two more at Ellis Park against first-level allowance horses on July 21 and then taking his first stakes win in the $275,000 Ellis Park Derby on Aug. 11 before coming to Remington Park.
Most Wanted was sent off as the 4-5 wagering favorite and paid $3.60 to win, $2.10 to place and $2.10 to show. E J Won the Cup (2-1) was only a head in front of third-place finisher Indispensable (7-1). The rest of the order of finish was Dimatic (9-2) fourth, Flat Hanby (24-1) fifth and Mena (55-1) sixth. Canada Gate and Society Man both were pre-race scratches.
Most Wanted set virtually all the interior fractions with Dimatic in the early going, taking turns bobbing heads past the poles. They were :23.60 for the first quarter-mile, :47.48 for the half-mile, 1:11.30 for three-quarters of a mile and 1:36.47 at the mile.
Most Wanted is beginning to look a lot like his sire (dad) Candy Ride (Arg), who was undefeated and retired at six-for-six in his career, including graded wins in San Isidro in South America and two graded stakes in North America. Candy Ride ended his career with a trip to the winner’s circle in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar in California.
The victory for Cox and Geroux gave them training and riding doubles respectively on Sunday, as they also won the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks with Alpine Princess in the race prior to the Oklahoma Derby.
Remington Park racing continues next week, returning to the regular Wednesday-Saturday live schedule, Oct. 2-5, with first post time of 6:30 p.m. CDT nightly.
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 Oklahoma Classics Night of stakes racing for top Oklahoma-breds takes place on Friday, Oct. 18. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
-30-
