Roman Cruz won the Grade, 2 Heritage Place Oaks with Apollitical Muse on Champions Night, Saturday, May 31, at Remington Park and came extremely close to winning three other stakes he rode in that night to earn the final Lip Chip Jockey of the Week award at Remington Park.
Victor Ibarra pulled off one of the major upsets on Champions Night when his trainee, Hooked N Gone, showed his back class to win the Grade 1 Debbie Schauf Remington Park Championship at 19-1 odds to be chosen as the final Trainer of the Week.
Hooked N Gone, who Ibarra trains for owner-breeder Regina Laymon of Neosho Falls, Kan., paid a whopping $40.20 to win despite his past credentials. Over the years, Hooked N Gone had compiled such Remington Park victories as Remington Park Juvenile Stakes as a 2-year-old (2022) and the Grade 1 Remington Park Derby at age 3 (2023). He also finished second in the Grade 2 Heritage Place Derby that year.
As a 5-year-old, Hooked N Gone, an Oklahoma-bred gelded son of PYC Paint Your Wagon, from the Pretty Boy Perry mare Pretty Girl Kate, had run second, just barely missing in the Dee Raper Sooner State Stakes on April 19. Still, he was ignored on the Champions Night, but Ibarra always had faith and was rewarded with a win over Mr Michel, one of the most heavily favored horses of the night at 1-5 odds. It was the only win of the week for Ibarra, but he only sent out three horses and one of the others ran second. That runner-up finish came with Sunnyside Dynasty on Friday night in allowance company.
Cruz booted home Apollitical Muse on Saturday for trainer Jed Vane and owner Gregory Cullum, beating the fastest qualifier for the Heritage Place Oaks, Rainbow of Diamonds. This score, like Hooked N Gone, was a bit of a surprise as the 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred filly, was sent off at 11-1 odds and paid $25.40 to win despite the fact that she had won the Remington Park Oaks on April 19.
Cruz also won a Paint-Appaloosa Stakes on closing night with Vesper Martini and ran second in the Grade 1 Remington Park Distance Championship with O Donovan Rossa, the Grade 1 Junos Request Stakes with Alliekat Dynasty, and the FL Lady Bug Stakes with BP Hail Mary.
For the week, Cruz ran first or second on 12-of-32 mounts, winning with six of them. Other than Apollitical Muse, he also won minor races with Pine Valley, Decision Made, Secretly Sassy, and Apollitical Jessblak.
