OK-Bred Shotgun Kowboy Takes Oklahoma Derby

Raring to go in his second start off a long layoff, Oklahoma-bred Shotgun Kowboy won the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby (gr. III) for the home team Sept. 27 at Remington Park.

 

Bred, owned, and trained by C.R. Trout, the son of Kodiak Kowboy vied for the early lead with Classy Class on the backstretch before edging ahead and then held off the late run of Desert Dynamo to win by a half-length. He covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.91, just off the stakes record 1:48.81 set by Pleasant Prince in 2010.

 

"I was thinking at the three-eighths pole, 'Please, don't falter,' Berry said of the winner, the 5-2 favorite who provided him a third win in the race. "Then I was thinking 'Come on finish line!' " 

 

Recent Super Derby (gr. II) victor Mobile Bay was third, four lengths back after moving six-wide around the final turn from 10th. Souper Colossal was fourth after being boxed in traffic for much of the race.

 

A standout as a 2-year-old at Remington Park in 2014, Shotgun Kowboy finished a fast-closing second, denied just a head, in the richest local race for juveniles, the $250,000 Remington Springboard Mile Dec. 14. Trout was hopeful of a big 3-year-old campaign for his runner, but those dreams evaporated when the gelding developed a minor issue and a bout with colic.

 

After more than eight months without a race, Shotgun Kowboy returned Aug. 29 against 3-year-old Oklahoma-breds in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance test and defeated his overmatched rivals by 11 1/4 lengths. He roared back Sunday to earn his third stakes win and first in a graded stakes.

 

Shotgun Kowboy, who is out of the unraced Siphon mare Shotgun Jane, returned $7.60, $4.40, and $3.20, while Desert Dynamo delivered $5.20 and $3.60. Mobile Bay paid $3.30 to show.

 

Berry, 52, plans to retire when the Remington meet concludes. He is the track's all-time leading rider with more than 2,000 wins and has more than 4,400 victories overall in a professional career that started in 1981. A Jones, Okla. resident, Berry also won the Oklahoma Derby in 2003 aboard Comic Truth and in 2006 aboard Mr. Pursuit.

 

Souper Colossal was fourth, followed by Bold Conquest, Witt Six, The Truth Or Else, Tale of Verve, Poseidon's Way, Classy Class, Lucky Player, and Hillbilly Royalty to complete the order of finish.