Local trainer’s horse pulls upset to win Remington Park Distance Championship
OKLAHOMA CITY — O Donovan Rossa had become known around these parts as the “King of the Hook,” but oddly enough, he had never won the Remington Park Distance Championship. Nothing changed Saturday as FL Rizzo went straight to the front in this Grade 1 race and held off the king in the late strides to win.
O Donovan Rossa was sent off as the heavy 4-5 odds-on favorite, but it was FL Rizzo that got his picture taken in the $51,840 event at 870 yards under jockey Gonzalo Gutierrez. FL Rizzo, a 5-year-old gelded Washington-bred son of KVN Corona, out of the Fly Jess Fly mare Fly Reba, had finished almost five lengths behind O Donovan Rossa when they last faced each other in the Grade 2, $50,000 Pauls Valley Stakes on May 3. Saturday, the winner drew the rail No. 1 post, the shortest way around the hook, and it made all the difference. Gutierrez sent him to the front like a rocket from a launching pad out of the gate and O Donovan Rossa never could get closer than 3.25 lengths at the end of the race for second.
FL Rizzo had not won a stakes race since last summer when he took down the $15,000 Walter Merrick Stakes last July 19 at Fair Meadows in Tulsa. O Donovan Rossa, a multiple graded stakes winner at 870 yards, had won around the hook in 9-of-19 starts. This was only the second time Fl Rizzo had won at this distance in seven tries.
Trained by Matt Whitekiller of Sallisaw, FL Rizzo earned $29,400 for owners Lindley and Julia Myers of Prosser, Wash., also the breeders of the horse. FL Rizzo improved his record to 12 starts, four wins, four seconds and earnings of $84,443. He stopped the timer in 44.29 seconds for a speed-index of 109 over the fast track. FL Rizzo was just off the track record of 44.28, a long-standing mark set by Snowbound Superstar on May 10, 2009.
FL Rizzo went off at 9-2 odds and paid $11.60 to win, $4.20 to place and $3 to show.
It was the first win for all connections of FL Rizzo in the Remington Park Distance Championship.
