OKLAHOMA CITY – Trainer Sebastian Gonzales had a huge day during the 10 training races at Remington Park on Wednesday, winning four races, including the four fastest of the day. His fastest was Running Cowboy 123, who won the fourth race of the day.
When owner Aurelio Juarez of Cleburne, Texas, purchased Running Cowboy 123 for $230,000 at the Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale last year, he knew the possibilities of having a fast Quarter Horse were high.
The 2-year-old California-bred Quarter Horse gelding didn’t do anything in his training race at Remington Park on Wednesday that would prove his owner or Gonzales wrong.
Gonzales sent out 10 horses Wednesday, winning races four, seven, eight and nine. He also ran second in two of those races. The Sebastian Gonzales stable looks strong this meet and he has 10 more horses to send out in Thursday’s 10 training races that start at 11 a.m.
Running Cowboy 123, a gelded son of Flying Cowboy 123, out of the Zulu Dragon mare Running Dragon, put up a time of :13.473 for the 250 yards, earning a speed index of 81, the fastest of the day. It was only the second time in three weeks of training race sessions that a horse has surpassed the 80-speed index on the chart. He did his with a tailwind of 7 mph. Running Cowboy 123 won his schooling event by 2-3/4 lengths. The only other training race winner this meet breaking the 80-mark, Gold Prize Honey, registered a time of :13.35, but did it with a 21 mph tailwind on Feb. 19 here, earning an 86.
When a colt is purchased for a hefty amount, such as the $230,000 for Running Cowboy 123, gelding him is a tough decision. It makes a huge dent in the could-have-been earnings he might make as a stud after his racing days.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” said Gonzales. “But we wouldn’t have gotten out of him what we did today if we hadn’t cut him. Before, when he was a colt, he would pay attention to us for about a minute and then go back to screwing around, turning his head in the gate and looking around.”
If a gelding, however, were to win a million-dollar race like the Grade 1 Heritage Place Futurity in May, one would get back that purchase price in a hurry.
“That’s what we are pointing him toward, the Heritage Place,” Gonzales said. “We might try to get in a maiden race before then, but we’ll see how he comes back (from this schooling race).”
Juarez owns a couple of oil businesses in Texas, according to Gonzales. So now he has one more thing with which he could make some big money.
“We loved the way he looked at the sale and loved his breeding, so we decided to take a chance,” said Gonzales. “Flying Cowboy 123 is a hot sire.”
Flying Cowboy 123 is a Leading Sire and is the Leading First Crop Sire of All-Time, according to StallionESearch.com. Remington Park fans might recognize a progeny of his named House of Lords, who won the 2025 Grade 2 Heritage Place Derby. In his racing career, Flying Cowboy 123 won 8-of-13 starts and $965,811. He was the AQHA Racing Champion 2-year-old Colt (2018) and AQHA Racing Champion 3-year-old Colt (2019) .
Running Cowboy 123’s dam (mother), Running Dragon, won 11-of-19 starts lifetime for earnings of $702,217. She was a multiple graded stakes winner.
Jockey Jesus Olivas rode Running Cowboy 123 to his impressive schooling race win.
“For the most part he is going to ride for us full time here this year at Remington Park,” said Gonzales. “He’s young, 23 or 24 years old and has ridden for us in New Mexico and Texas. We have a lot of faith in him.”
The other training race winners (2-year-old Quarter Horses unless otherwise noted), their times (in order of fastest to slowest winners), speed index, trainers and schooling race number:
- Lawman 123, :13.562, 78, Sebastian Gonzales, race seven
- Shes an NME, :13.595, 76, Sebastian Gonzales, race eight
- Fall Classic, :13.647, 74, Sebastian Gonzales, race nine
- In Lanas Honor, :13.691, 72, Dee Keener, race three
- Cartel Lady 123, :13.689, 73, Dee Keener, race five
- Curl Candyman, :13.705, 72, Leo Alcala, race six
- Cyber Jessie, :13.823, 67, Guillermo Valdivia, race 10
- JH River Rat (Paint), :13.840, 67, Stacy Charette-Hill, race one
- Flyindwntheturnpike (Paint), :13.902, 64, Matt Whitekiller, race two
Workouts
Talias Cowboy, likely the hardest luck runner in the Leo Alcala stable, worked out Wednesday morning at 220 yards and stopped the timer in :12.94, handily over the fast track. This 3-year-old Texas-bred Quarter Horse filly by Flying Cowboy 123, out of the Panther Mountain mare Panther Speed, is 5-for-5 lifetime with $43,775 in earnings. That’s the good news. The bad news is she has won five of the top futurity trials in the country, but never ran in any of the finals.
She started her career at Remington Park in the Heritage Place Futurity trials and won that on May 8, 2025. No final, however. Moved on to New Mexico and ran in the Ruidoso, Rainbow and All American futurity trials. She won each of her trials for those events but again, did not make the final.
Talias Cowboy’s fifth win came in the Dash For Cash Futurity trials at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Sept. 13, 2025, but did not run in that final. That was the last time she raced and is prepping for her first race as a 3-year-old at Remington Park. She is owned by Triple One Ranch and was bred by Ted G. Abrams.
Other workers of note included Flying Wrangler, a graded stakes placed Quarter Horse, and Pretty Lil Poison, a stakes winning Paint at Remington Park last year.
Flying Wrangler, an Oklahoma-bred 4-year-old gelding by Flying Cowboy 123, out of the Okey Dokey Dale mare Docs Dusty Dale, had the bullet work for 220 yards in :12.26, handily from the gate. That gelding is owned by Dusty Rose Ranch, also the breeder, and is trained by Stacey Capps. Flying Wrangler ran fourth in the Remington Park Futurity after winning her trial here in 2024, and then was impressive as a 3-year-old, picking up a check for third place in the Grade 1 Remington Park Derby on April 19, 2025. Her lifetime record is 17 starts, five wins, two seconds and three thirds for $171,142. She was a stakes winner at Fair Meadows in Tulsa, Okla.
Pretty Lil Poison, a winner of the Grade 1 $120,800 American Paint Classic on May 2, 2025 at Remington Park, also hit the track Wednesday for her first workout of the pre-season for trainer Matt Whitekiller. The 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred daughter of multiple World Champion Painted Turnpike, out of the Tac It Like a Man mare Miss Fly On Tac, covered 220 yards in :12.45, handily. The Paint filly is owned and was bred by Whitekiller. Her lifetime record is 8-3-1-2, $83,456.
Just eight days from the beginning of the season and the population of the Remington Park stable area continues to grow. Currently 1,135 equine athletes have residence at Remington Park.
Remington Park has provided more than $407 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 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season begins March 5. 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.
Courtesy of Richard Linihan, Remington Park
