Jockey Sofia Barandela wins another turf race on lead, couldn’t be caught aboard Our Pastor
OKLAHOMA CITY — If you can get a horse with early speed, sprinting on the turf, jockey Sofia Barandela is proving to be a rider that can be tough to catch in this situation. She won the featured allowance race Wednesday night at Remington Park aboard the front-running Our Pastor going five furlongs on the firm grass in the ninth race.
OKLAHOMA CITY — If you can get a horse with early speed, sprinting on the turf, jockey Sofia Barandela is proving to be a rider that can be tough to catch in this situation. She won the featured allowance race Wednesday night at Remington Park aboard the front-running Our Pastor going five furlongs on the firm grass in the ninth race.
It was the third time this meet she has gone gate-to-wire on the lawn. Her first victory on the grass came at five furlongs greensward aboard Summer Cat (10-1) on Sept. 8 and followed that up at a mile in the saddle of Wild Express (14-1) on Sept. 21, drawing away to win by six lengths. She won on Summer Cat by a half-length.
Barandela’s trip to the winner’s circle aboard Our Pastor on Wednesday night was similar to her victory on Summer Cat, winning by only a neck over the top turf rider at Remington the past few years, Stewart Elliott. He was breathing down her neck with Just Push Send (4-1), but could not get past her and Our Pastor. Elliott was just named National Jockey of the Week by the Jockeys’ Guild. He leads the Remington Park riders with 35 wins, at least 17 victories ahead of everyone. Jockey David Cabrera, currently nursing a broken femur, has remained in second with 18 wins. Richard Eramia is third at 14.
The victory for Barandela was her fourth of the meet and she is 15th in the jockeys’ standings. Her other win came at six furlongs on the dirt with Hot Springs Bling (38-1).
Our Pastor, a 3-year-old daughter of Half Ours, out of the Fayregammo mare Pastor Paige, had nearly gone gate-to-wire in her previous two starts for trainer Jaime Castellanos but was caught in the final strides at six furlongs on the dirt both times. She did finish second in those tries at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City and at Remington Park. The shortening up to five furlongs and moving to the grass did the trick.
Our Pastor earned $20,898 from the $35,000 purse for owner Darrell Bravenec of Red Oak, Texas and the filly improved her record to nine starts, two wins, three seconds and two thirds for a bankroll of $69,444. She was bred in Louisiana by Colonel Thoroughbreds and was purchased for $20,000 at the Texas Thoroughbred Association 2-year-olds-in-training sale in April 2022.
Accelerate Judy (2-1 favorite) finished third to Our Pastor 2.25 lengths back of runner-up Just Push Send.
Our Pastor made every pole a winning one, setting interior fractions of 22.26 seconds for the first quarter-mile and 46.12 seconds for the half-mile.
Remington Park racing continues through Saturday, with a nightly start of 7:07 p.m.
