Remington Park Cuts Stakes Purses Due to COVID-19
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Photo: Courtesy of Remington Park
Racing at Remington Park
Remington Park, set to begin a 67-date Thoroughbred season Aug. 21, released a stakes schedule July 29 that features 32 races and a reduced purse structure due to COVID-19.
Total purse money for the stakes schedule is $2.88 million, a reduction of $820,000 from 2019. The lower structure is due to two months of inactivity from mid-March to late-May when Remington Park halted simulcast racing and casino gaming for health and safety measures because of the pandemic.
Opening night kicks off with the featured $75,000 Governor's Cup Stakes for older runners going 1 1/8 miles.
Remington Park's lone graded events top the billing Sept. 27 for Oklahoma Derby Day. The $200,000 Oklahoma Derby (G3) and the $100,000 Remington Park Oaks (G3) head the lineup of eight stakes races on one of just two Sunday afternoon programs this season. Won in 2019 by Owendale, the Oklahoma Derby shares richest race honors at Remington Park. The Remington Springboard Mile Stakes, the track's top event for 2-year-olds, also carries a $200,000 purse.
The marquee night for state-breds falls Oct. 16 with the annual Oklahoma Classics. The series of divisional stakes races for Oklahoma-breds, worth more than $1 million, has been contested every year since 1993. The $175,000 Oklahoma Classics Cup Stakes tops the night and for the first time since 2016 will be won by a horse not named Shotgun Kowboy. A record-holding four-time winner of the Cup, millionaire Shotgun Kowboy was retired this year to the farm of his breeder/owner/trainer, C. R. Trout, in Edmond, Okla.
The Dec. 20 Springboard Mile leads a loaded afternoon of stakes racing on the final day of the season. It carries valuable qualifying points for the 2021 Road to the Kentucky Derby and has drawn quality fields, sending runners into the two most recent editions of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) in Combatant (2018) and Long Range Toddy (2019).
The Remington Park turf course will be ready for action from opening night into November. There are seven stakes races slated on the grass, with the $60,000 Remington Green Stakes and the $60,000 Ricks Memorial Stakes as the top open stakes races, both on the Oklahoma Derby Day undercard. A pair of events on Oklahoma Classics night share the honors for richest turf stakes this season with the OKC Turf Classic Stakes and the Oklahoma Classics Distaff Turf Stakes both checking in at $130,000.
A total of 16 stakes are slated for Oklahoma-bred runners, beginning with a trio of $70,000 events on turf Sept. 25: the Red Earth Stakes, the Bob Barry Memorial Stakes, and the Remington Park Turf Sprint Stakes. Two more $70,000 stakes, the Jim Thorpe Stakes and Useeit Stakes, wrap up the state-bred stakes on the Springboard Mile undercard.
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2020 Remington Park Thoroughbred Season Stakes Schedule
Races for eligible Oklahoma-breds are denoted by (OK)
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| Date | Purse | Race | Conditions | Distance | Surface |
| Aug. 21 | $75,000 | Governor's Cup | 3&Up | 1 1/8 miles | Dirt |
| Sept. 11 | $50,000 | Oklahoma Stallion Stakes | 3YO colts/geldings | 7 furlongs | Dirt |
| Sept. 11 | $50,000 | Oklahoma Stallion Stakes | 3YO fillies | 7 furlongs | Dirt |
| Sept. 25 | $70,000 | Remington Park Turf Sprint (OK) | 3&Up | 5 furlongs | Turf |
| Sept. 25 | $70,000 | Red Earth Stakes (OK) | 3&Up | 7 1/2 furlongs | Turf |
| Sept. 25 | $70,000 | Bob Barry Memorial (OK) | 3&Up fillies/mares | 7 1/2 furlongs | Turf |
| Sept. 27 | $200,000 | Oklahoma Derby (G3) | 3YO | 1 1/8 miles | Dirt |
| Sept. 27 | $100,000 | Remington park Oaks (G3) | 3YO fillies | 1 1/16 miles | Dirt |
| Sept. 27 | $60,000 | David Vance Sprint | 3&Up | 6 furlongs | Dirt |
| Sept. 27 | $60,000 | Remington Green Stakes | 3&Up | 1 1/8 miles | Turf |
| Sept. 27 | $60,000 | Kip Deville Stakes | 2YOs | 6 furlongs | Dirt |
| Sept. 27 | $60,000 | Ricks Memorial Stakes | 3&Up fillies/mares | 1 1/16 miles | Turf |
| Sept. 27 | $50,000 | E.L. Gaylord Memorial Stakes | 2YO fillies | 6 1/2 furlongs | Dirt |
| Sept. 27 | $50,000 | Flashy Lady Stakes | 3&Up fillies/mares | 6 furlongs | Dirt |
| Oct. 16 | $175,000 | Oklahoma Classics Cup (OK) | 3&Up | 1 1/16 miles | Dirt |
| Oct. 16 | $145,000 | Oklahoma Classics Distaff (OK) | 3&up fillies/mares | 1 mile 70 yards | Dirt |
| Oct. 16 | $130,000 | Oklahoma Classics Sprint (OK) | 3&Up | 6 furlongs | Dirt |
| Oct. 16 | $130,000 | Oklahoma Turf Classic (OK) | 3&Up | 1 1/16 miles | Turf |
| Oct. 16 | $130,000 | Oklahoma Classics Distaff Turf (OK) | 3&Up fillies/mares | 1 1/16 miles | Turf |
| Oct. 16 | $130,000 | Oklahoma Classics Distaff Sprint (OK) | 3&Up fillies/mares | 6 furlongs | Dirt |
| Oct. 16 | $100,000 | Oklahoma Classics Juvenile (OK) | 2YO colts/geldings | 6 furlongs | Dirt |
| Oct. 16 | $100,000 | Oklahoma Classics Lassie (OK) | 2YO fillies | 6 furlongs | Dirt |
| Oct. 30 | $60,000 | Clever Trevor Stakes | 2YOs | 7 furlongs | Dirt |
| Nov. 13 | $75,000 | Don McNeill Stakes (OK) | 2YOs | 1 mile | Dirt |
| Nov. 13 | $75,000 | Slide Show Stakes (OK) | 2YO fillies | 1 mile | Dirt |
| Nov. 13 | $70,000 | Silver Goblin Stakes (OK) | 3&Up | 6 furlongs | Dirt |
| Dec. 20 | $200,000 | Springboard Mile | 2YOs | 1 mile | Dirt |
| Dec. 20 | $75,000 | She's All In Stakes | 3&Up fillies/mares | 1 mile 70 yards | Dirt |
| Dec. 20 | $60,000 | Trapeze Stakes | 2YO fillies | 1 mile | Dirt |
| Dec. 20 | $60,000 | Jeffrey Hawk Memorial | 3&Up | 1 mile 70 yards | Dirt |
| Dec. 20 | $70,000 | Jim Thorpe Stakes (OK) | 3YOs | 1 mile | Dirt |
| Dec. 20 | $70,000 | Useeit Stakes (OK) | 3YO fillies | 1 mile | Dirt |