Trainer Ed Hardy had not won at Remington Park this meet, so he pulled out “old reliable” from his barn, Five Bar Phi.
When the featured allowance race was run on Thursday night, Five Bar Phi, a gelding who could be called a horse for the course at this Oklahoma City track won for the third time here in only five tries. That put Hardy into the winner’s circle for the first time at Remington Park in 2025, but by the slimmest of margins. Five Bar Phi, a 4-year-old Iowa-bred gelded son of Five Bar Cartel, from the Feature Mr Jess mare Number One Chorreada, blazed down the track at 300 yards and hit the wire in a photo finish as the 6-5 betting favorite.
The photo revealed that Five Bar Phi, with jockey Angel O. Ramirez in the saddle, was the winner by a neck over Smyly (7-1) in second and another head in front of third-place finisher Jessies First Card (3-1). Five Bar Phi paid $4.60 to win, $3 to place and $2.40 to show. He stopped the timer in :15.389 seconds over a fast track for a speed index of 94.
Five Bar Phi earned $18,225 from the $33,700 allowance purse for owner Christine Hovey of Dallas Center, Iowa. The gelding improved his lifetime record to 13 starts, eight wins and three seconds for a bankroll of $170,400. He was bred Iowa by Cory Kilgore.
The race gave fans a thrill as five horses were separated by heads, necks and noses, the closest race of the night. The fourth-place horse, Perry Fast (4-1) was a nose behind Jessies First Card and the fifth-place finisher, Pulgarcitos Moon (39-1) checked in another head back.
Five Bar Phi won this open allowance after a strong stakes season at Prairie Meadows in Iowa last fall. The hard-charging gelding came to Oklahoma City this spring after winning the $70,000 Terrace Hill Stakes for Iowa-breds on Sept. 28, 2024. He had also been the runner-up in two more Iowa-bred stakes, the $40,000 Cy-Hawks Stakes on Aug. 3 and the $64,000 Cyclone Derby on July 7.
Flores Triples
Jockey James Flores enjoyed his best night of this Remington Park season, posting a riding triple on Thursday night.
Flores began his hat trick with Ninja Cowboy ($3.60) in the second race. The second win on the night came in race seven with Toby Two, scoring at 22-1 odds and paying $46.40 to win. The third and final score came in the 10th and final on the night as Flores moved Jones Hero ($3.20) to the finish.
The Flores triple gives him 12 wins on the season. Juan Pulido leads the jockey colony with 28 wins.
Remington Park racing continues Friday through Sunday, April 25-27. The first race nightly is at 6pm with Sunday racing at 4pm. All times are Central.
