Jockey Ramiro Garcia and trainer Jason Olmstead were likely biting their fingernails in angst when the barn started the meet like a penguin’s feet in Antarctica – stone cold.
Like Sleeping Beauty, they must have been kissed sometime last week as they awakened from their deep slumber to earn the Lip Chip Jockey and Trainer of the Week awards. Garcia began the meet winning only 2-of-29 out of the gate and Olmstead’s drought was even worse at 2-for-32. One would have had to send out a search party to find either one in the jockeys’ and trainers’ standings at Remington Park.
The two paired up for an amazing week of trials last week for the $868,455 Remington Park Futurity, $185,420 Derby and $160,670 Oaks. Garcia and Olmstead combined to qualify four of the top-10 2-year-old Oklahoma-bred American Quarter Horses that made the finals set for Saturday, April 19 in the futurity. They qualified two more of the 10 fastest in the Oaks for 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred Quarter Horse fillies and one additional 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred Quarter Horse for the Derby.
They went from nowhere in the standings to Olmstead rising to a tie for second with eight wins, behind runaway two-time defending champion trainer Dee Keener, who has 21 victories. Garcia rose like a phoenix to a tie for ninth among a tough riding colony at Remington Park with eight trips to the winner’s circle. He is tied with David Alvarez, Jr., for ninth. Francisco Calderon leads all jockeys with 21 wins.
In one week of racing, Garcia went from 7 percent winners to 14 percent (8-of-55 starts victorious). Olmstead rose from 6 percent to 11 percent (8-of-72 starts).
Garcia will have four mounts to choose from Olmstead’s barn as qualifiers for the futurity as he rode them all. They are (with their qualifying times at 330 yards):
FRIDAY, APRIL 4
Entice Me Ona Monday, :16.369, 103 speed-index (fastest trial for either night of qualifying)
Illegal Cowgirl 123, :16.547, 97
SATURDAY, APRIL 5
AJs Secret Cash, :16.493, 98
Good Blue Candy, :16.573, 96
It wasn’t all that surprising that Olmstead was sitting on a gold mine of 2-year-olds, though. Back on March 26-27, on back-to-back days of training races at Remington Park, Olmstead’s barn produced nine winners from the schooling races. It turns out that Entice Me Ona Monday’s schooling victory at :13.381 for 250 yards on Thursday, Feb. 27, was the fastest training race win of the meet and now will obviously be heavily favored in the finals of the Remington Park Futurity. In the trials, Entice Me Ona Monday defeated Oklahoma Futurity winner from earlier this meet, Flying Joy 1, by nine-hundredths of a second in a head-to-head matchup. She was the second-fastest qualifier. The grudge match continues April 19.
The good weekend continued with qualifying trials on Sunday, April 6 for the $160,670 Remington Park Oaks and $185,420 Remington Park Derby.
SUNDAY, APRIL 6
RP OAKS trials (400 yards)
Flying Bandida, (:19.523, 98 speed-index, 2nd fastest qualifier)
Curlie D, (:19.733, 92, 10th fastest qualifier)
RP DERBY trials (400 yards)
Relentless American, (:19.616, 95, seventh fastest qualifier)
Remington Park racing continues tonight-Sunday, April 10-13. The first race nightly is 6pm with Sunday racing at 4pm. All times are Central.
