OKLAHOMA CITY – A field of 10 has been drawn for Saturday night’s Grade 2, $70,405 Remington Park Championship Challenge with 2023 All American Futurity winner Cowboys Gun Z as the 6-5 morning line favorite for the 440-yard race.
When the 1-10 favorite in the 2023 Grade 1, $3 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico, Dark NME, ducked in at the start of that race, the crown that year was up for grabs. Cowboys Gun Z, trained by Michael Joiner for that All American, took advantage under the guidance of jockey Agustin Silva, and won by a half-length at 15-1 odds. The winner stopped the timer for 440 yards in :21.574 seconds, earning a speed index of 87, into a strong 22 mph headwind over a fast track to get the glory.
That effort helped earn Cowboys Gun Z the American Quarter Horse Association Champion 2-year-old honor for 2023.
Now a 5-year-old, Cowboys Gun Z will race Saturday night for Michael’s son, trainer Justin Joiner, and will be under the saddle of jockey Francisco Calderon. Calderon rode the big strapping bay Oklahoma-bred gelding to his last win in his final start as a 4-year-old – the Grade 1, $120,000 Refrigerator at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Nov. 15, 2025.
In fact, Cowboys Gun Z is on a two-race win streak, having won a conditional allowance race at Lone Star Park on Sept. 27, prior to the Refrigerator Stakes. The gelded son of Flying Cowboy 123, out of the Tres Seis mare CF Smokin Gun, has earned $1,670,517 for owner West Texas Racing Partners (Joe Dee Brooks) of Levelland, Texas. He has won 6-of-13 starts lifetime, and finished second three other times. He was a $125,000 purchase at the 2022 Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale. He was bred by Running C Ranch.
Cowboys Gun Z won the Refrigerator Stakes by 1-1/4 lengths as the 5-2 second favorite. The 2-1 favorite in that race, As Moonflash, was squeezed back at the start and finished dead last in a field of 10. As Moonflash, the 5-year-old Oklahoma-bred mare trained by Leo Alcala has a chance to get her revenge in this spot Saturday, drawing post number three at 8-1 odds. Leading jockey Juan Pulido will get a leg up from Alcala, who also bred this horse. She is owned by Marisol Alvarado of Jones, Okla.
The second favorite in the Remington Championship Challenge on Saturday night is Scoops Dynasty at 5-1 odds. Trainer Dean Frey sends out this 7-year-old gelding, who was invited last year to the best race in the country for older American Quarter Horses – the Grade 1, $700,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos in California. Scoops Dynasty, an Idaho-bred gelding by FDD Dynasty, out of the Dashin Bye mare Bye Sweet Girl, ran ninth in that race after a troubled start, breaking inward and being bumped. She was sent off at 12-1 odds. Her career record for owner Edward McNelis is 31 attempts with 11 wins, eight seconds and four thirds for total earnings of $824,562. McNelis and Von Zae McNelis are the breeders.
A multiple stakes winner from last year at Remington Park, Js On Fire, is the 6-1 third favorite after showing an affinity for this Oklahoma City track. The 5-year-old Oklahoma-bred horse, also trained by Justin Joiner, won the Grade 2, $69,000 Remington Park Championship Challenge on April 6, 2025, over a muddy track at 440 yards and then followed that up with a victory in the Grade 2, $75,000 Boyd Morris Memorial Stakes on May 31 over a fast track at 400 yards. Js On Fire is sired by Hes Relentless, from the Apollitical Jess mare As and Js, a graded stakes winner of more than a half-million dollars in her racing career.
Jockey Bryan Candanosa keeps the reins aboard this multiple stakes winner for owner Joshua Owens of Pleasanton, Texas. Js On Fire now has won six of 16 starts and has earned $239,933. He was bought out of the same auction as Cowboys Gun Z, the Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale of 2022 for $105,000. He was bred by Rancho El Cabresto.
The field for the Remington Championship Challenge, by program and post-position order, with jockey trainer and morning-line odds:
- Z Rexx: Jonathan Dominguez, Felesha Gold, 20-1
- Stetsonn: James Flores, Dean Frey, 10-1
- As Moonflash: Juan Pulido, Leonardo Alcala, 8-1
- Ultimate Battle: Francisco Ramirez, Jr., Jason Olmstead, 20-1
- Tha Duke: Noe Castaneda, Hernesto Ramirez, 15-1
- Scoops Dynasty: Cody Smith, Dean Frey, 5-1
- Whata Lota Boy: Roman Cruz, Clint Crawford, 12-1
- Js On Fire: Bryan Candanosa, Justin Joiner, 6-1
- Shakers No Secret: Ricky Ramirez, Marc Jungers, 12-1
- Cowboys Gun Z: Francisco Calderon, Justin Joiner, 6-5 (morning-line favorite)
The Remington Championship Challenge is the final race of 11 on Saturday, March 28 with a scheduled start time of 10:30pm. The first race of the night is at 6pm.
Remington Park racing continues Thursday through Sunday, March 26-29, with the first race nightly at 6pm and Sunday racing at 4pm.
Remington Park has provided more than $408 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District. The 2026 Remington Park Futurity, the richest race of the season for Oklahoma-breds, takes place on Saturday, April 18. Remington Park presents year-round simulcast racing and casino gaming. Guests must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or to enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
by Richard Linihan
