Shotgun Kowboy a 'Total Blessing' to C. R. Trout

At 7 years old, Shotgun Kowboy refuses to slow down in his racing career, which was apparent Oct. 18 when he accomplished a record fourth Oklahoma Classics Cup Stakes victory with a 6 3/4-length romp at Remington Park.

Bred, owned, and trained by C. R. Trout of Edmond, Okla., Shotgun Kowboy has compiled over $1.5 million in earnings from a 14-5-7 record in 38 starts. The son of Kodiak Kowboy has also won the Oklahoma Derby (G3), Lone Star Park Handicap (G3), Clever Trevor Stakes, and Oklahoma Classics Juvenile Stakes. Trout said the consistent and sound gelding has been a "total blessing" to him and his family.

Shotgun Kowboy's historic Classics Cup win, in which he completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.72 under jockey David Cabrera, was an uplifting moment that came at the right time. Trout's wife, Arletta, was in the hospital recovering from open heart surgery. Arletta was the one who named Shotgun Kowboy.

"He's just something else. He likes to be loved on. When he came out the next morning after the race, he just strutted around there like a young horse," said Trout, who was inducted into the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2017. "We walked him two days, then I took him to the track. He just couldn't get enough of what he was doing. He likes to jog and gallop, and he just acted like a young kid."

Trout has 14 broodmares he breeds in both Oklahoma and Kentucky. Shotgun Jane, an unraced daughter of Siphon and the dam of Shotgun Kowboy, is still an active part of his operation. Her daughter Euro K Shotgun (by Euroears) won the Oklahoma Stallion Fillies Stakes and Oklahoma Classics Distaff Sprint Stakes, and her son Shotgun's Night was second in the Oklahoma Stallion Stakes.

Shotgun Jane foaled an Upstart  colt May 2 and is in foal to Speightster .

"They all have a lot of try, they're all pretty conformationally correct, and they're good-mannered, good-natured horses to be around," Trout said of Shotgun Jane's progeny.

Video: Oklahoma Classics Cup S. (BT)

Trout also bred and campaigned Shotgun Gulch, a multiple Oklahoma Classics stakes winner who went on to win the Vinery Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, and Imahit, winner of the Classics Cup from 2013-14. Between Shotgun Kowboy and Imahit, Trout has won six of the past seven Classics Cups, with Shotgun Kowboy first winning the race in 2015 and again from 2017-19. Trout also campaigned grade 3 winner and millionaire Maysville Slew, who was bred in Kentucky by R. L. Sanford.

Trout said Shotgun Kowboy has remained in good health with no soundness issues and is correct conformation-wise. The dark bay will likely run at Remington Park again this season and, if he continues to do well, take a trip to Oaklawn Park.

Shotgun Kowboy will always have a home with Trout, and the trainer has a second job in mind for the gelding when the time comes for Shotgun Kowboy to retire from racing.

"He'll become our pony horse. He loves to be around the stable and likes all the attention he gets," Trout said. "That's our plan, anyway."

But for now, Shotgun Kowboy has given no indication he's ready to settle down off his big Classics Cup win.

"He has come back great. He's just full of himself," Trout said. "He kind of knows, I think, that he accomplished something."