Classics Cup race slated for Remington Park, with Number One Dude the favorite

OKLAHOMA CITY — The field for the Oklahoma Classics Cup, powered by FanDuel TV, has been set with two past winners of the race included in the field of six for the 1-1/16 miles main event tonight at Remington Park.

Returning Classics Cup champ That’s Something and Absaroka, winner in 2021, will face four others in the $131,000 guaranteed race for Oklahoma-breds, 3-year-olds and older. Number One Dude, second to That’s Something in the Cup a year ago, is the current favorite at 8-5 odds. Ghost Hero, the pace-setter before tiring to 10th in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby in September, is the very close secondfavorite in the morning line at 9-5 odds. That’s Something checks in as third favorite at odds of 5-2.

Number One Dude is still searching for his first win of the season after a fourthplace effort in open company in the $100,000 Governor’s Cup on opening night of the Remington Park season. The 5-year-old owned by Terry Westemeir of Broken Arrow and trained by Scott Young, then finished second in the Red Earth Stakes on Sept. 22 against fellow Oklahoma-breds over the turf, beaten by seasoned grass veteran Tap the Dot.

Leandro Goncalves has his normal mount on Number One Dude who also ran second in the 2021 Classics Cup behind Absaroka.

Ghost Hero returns to face Oklahomabreds for the first time since winning the Will Rogers Stakes at Will Rogers Downs on May 8 in Claremore. The 3-year-old owned by Norman Stables of Thomasville, Ala., and trained by Jayde Gelner has been competitive in open company stakes action since that score. He ran fourth in the Texas Derby in late May at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, then third in the Hilton Memorial at Charles Town in West Virginia in August before his tiring 10th in the Oklahoma Derby.

A colt by Shaman Ghost from the Super Saver mare Queen Buxley, Ghost Hero has posted a pair of workouts since his Oklahoma Derby attempt to get ready for the Classics Cup. Regular jockey Floyd Wethey, Jr. will have the mount. Ghost Hero is undefeated in Oklahomabred stakes company at Remington Park, winning the Oklahoma Classics Juvenile and the Don McNeill Stakes last year as a 2-year-old.

Owner and trainer Lynn Chleborad will saddle That’s Something, attempting to have the first repeat winner in the Classics Cup since Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Famer Shotgun Kowboy won his third straight Cup in 2019. The 6-year-old gelding by Read the Footnotes from the Concern broodmare Cherokee Princess has raced twice this season at Remington Park. He sprinted six furlongs on Sept. 14, finishing third in his first race off a layoff of nearly 10 months. A turf attempt at 7.5 furlongs on Sept. 22 produced a fifth-place effort in the Red Earth Stakes, 6.75 lengths behind Tap the Dot and 5.25 lengths behind Number One Dude. Jockey Luis Quinonez will have his regular spot on That’s Something.

Absaroka, finished a distant eighth, beaten 21.25 lengths by That’s Something last year in the Classics Cup. The denial in his attempt to repeat victory in the race was also his last attempt against Oklahoma-breds. He recently finished third in a $20,000-level claiming event at Remington Park on Sept. 27. Trained by J.R. Caldwell since being claimed in April for $5,000 at Will Rogers Downs, Absaroka will gain the riding expertise of Remington Park’s leading jockey Stewart Elliott.

Number One Dude is the top earner in the Classics Cup with $465,700 bankrolled. He shares the honor for most career wins in this race with Absaroka, both have visited the winner’s circle nine times.

The field by postposition and program order for the Oklahoma Classics Cup, with horse, jockey, trainer and morning-line odds: 1. Kwontro: Alfredo Triana, Jr., Pat Swan, 12-1.

2. Ghost Hero: Floyd Wethey, Jr., Jayde Gelner, 9-5.

3. I’m Crenshaw: Lindey Wade, Federico Villafranco, 15-1.

4. Absaroka: Stewart Elliott, J.R. Caldwell, 8-1.

5. That’s Something: Luis Quinonez, Lynn Chleborad, 5-2.

6. Number One Dude: Leandro Goncalves, Scott Young, 8-5 (morningline favorite).

7. The Classics Cup will be the ninth race of 10 on the Oklahoma Classics Night, celebrating Oklahomabred Thoroughbreds. The scheduled post will be 11:05 p.m. Friday, with the first race of the night set for 7:07 p.m.