2019 Oklahoma Derby Contenders & Odds

A stakes-laden 13-race program has been assembled for Sunday at Remington Park, led by the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby, which goes as the 12th race on a card beginning at 3 p.m. CT.

Mucho Gusto was made the 8-5 morning line favorite by odds maker Rick Lee. The Bob Baffert trainee comes into the Oklahoma Derby off a third-place Travers Stakes finish, 3-1/2 lengths behind victorious Code Of Honor.

The son of Mucho Macho Man won both the Grade 3 Laz Barrera Stakes and the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita Park this spring. He then ran second to Maximum Security in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in New Jersey prior to his Travers effort. Owned by Michael Petersen, Mucho Gusto will be ridden by Joe Talamo.

Owendale, a closing third in the Preakness Stakes Pimlico, beaten only 1 1/4 lengths, is at 3-1 odds the second choice in the morning line. Owendale drew the outside post in the field of 11 and will be ridden by Florent Geroux for the fifth consecutive race. Trained by Brad Cox, Owendale won the Grade 3 Ohio Derby in June at Thistledown.

Tax, a multiple stakes winner this year after taking the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct in February and then visiting the winner's circle in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 27, is the third choice on the morning line at 4-1 odds. Trained by Danny Gargan, the former claim Tax has earned $786,300 with three wins from nine attempts. Kendrick Carmouche will have the mount.

Remington Park's current leading trainer, Steve Asmussen, whas a pair of horses entered as he attempts to win his second Oklahoma Derby. Long Range Toddy, winner of the 2018 Springboard Mile at Remington Park and the runner-up in that race, Bankit, will represent the barn. Asmussen won his first Oklahoma Derby in 2017 with Untrapped.

Owned and bred by Willis Horton Racing, Long Range Toddy is at 15-1 odds in the morning line. He won Remington Park's top 2-year-old races last year in the Springboard Mile and also the Clever Trevor Stakes. This spring at Oaklawn Park, Long Range Toddy was second in the Smarty Jones; third in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes; and won a division of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes before finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.

Long Range Toddy was awarded a 16th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. He was then third in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown followed by a fifth-place run in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby.

Jockey Jon Court, who has ridden Long Range Toddy in his last five attempts, keeps the mount. Long Range Toddy is just the second horse to have started his career at Remington Park to compete in the Kentucky Derby, joining Suddenbreakingnews in that small club.

Bankit, at 8-1 on the morning line, closed from the back of the pack in the 11-horse Springboard Mile here in December. The New York-bred colt by Central Banker launched a furious rally coming off the final turn under Ricardo Santana, Jr. Bankit nearly caught Long Range Toddy in the Springboard, finishing second beaten only a head. Santana has the call on Bankit, owned in partnership by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton.

The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby, will once again headline a very special day of racing at Remington Park on Sunday, September 29. Also featured during the program, the Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks. The first race of the day is at 3pm.

The Oklahoma Derby is a top Breeders' Cup prep race for many of the nation's 3-year-olds. Won last year by Lone Sailor, the Oklahoma Derby leads a huge afternoon of eight stakes races, offering many divisional categories and even more Breeders' Cup prep opportunities for top horses. The 2019 edition of Oklahoma Derby Day will be worth more than $1.1 million in race purses.

In addition to the Oklahoma Derby and the Remington Park Oaks, these additional stakes events will make Remington Park the focus of horse racing on Sunday, September 29:

Tax on point for G3 Oklahoma Derby

R. A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Hugh Lynch, and Corms Racing Stable's Tax breezed four furlongs in 47.60 seconds on Saturday morning on the Belmont training track.

Trainer Danny Gargan said the dark bay son of Arch, claimed for $50,000 out of a maiden win in October at Keeneland, is on point for next Sunday's Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park, with the Grade 2, $400,000 Hill Prince, a nine-furlong turf route on October 5 at Belmont as a backup plan.

"We'll probably run him in Oklahoma," said Gargan. "He worked good here the other day. With the timing, we can still make the Breeders' Cup if we wanted to, but if we run him October 6 we won't make the Breeders' Cup."

Tax has excelled in graded stakes company in New York winning the Grade 3 Withers and Grade 2 Jim Dandy, while hitting the board in the Grade 2 Remsen and Grade 2 Wood Memorial.

Gargan said Tax, who contested two-thirds of the Triple Crown, placing 14th in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Belmont, could also contest the Grade 3, $200,000 Discovery in the fall at Aqueduct should they decide to skip the Breeders' Cup.

"He's doing great, but it's all about timing at this stage of the game," said Gargan. "If he wins there [at Remington], then we can do the Discovery. The timing is still up in the air."