Oklahoma Derby Gallops Towards National Attention

The biggest purse in the Oklahoma Derby's history is up for grabs and organizers hope the race will find its place in national prominence.

Saturday, October 10th 2009, 12:19 am

By: News 9


By Charles Bassett, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The biggest purse in the Oklahoma Derby's history is up for grabs and organizers hope the race will find its place in national prominence.

Horses, trainers and owners will all make Remington Park their home over the next few days as they get ready for the Oklahoma Derby.

Remington officials said they're coming from all over the country.

"A couple from California usually, usually we get one or two horses coming up from Florida, a few coming down from Kentucky a few coming over from Louisiana," said Dale Day, Remington Park race announcer.

That's been the goal of the Park since it first opened, to draw in people from around the country.

This year, the derby attracted Steve Asmussen, one of the country's top trainer's.

"Right now we are in Woodbine, which is in Toronto, Canada, then Belmont in New York, Hawthorne in Chicago, Churchill Downs in Kentucky, and then Southern Louisiana in Lafayette. About to start New Orleans and then Oklahoma City," said Darren Fleming, assistant trainer for Steve Asmussen.

Asmussen trained this year's Preakness Stakes winner Rachel Alexandra. The company has two horses in Sunday's Oklahoma Derby.

Asmussen actually got his start in Oklahoma City when the track opened but left.

"We came back when the money got better of course was as big attraction to come back," Fleming said.

The casino at the track has helped push the purse to $400,000 for this year's race.

"We think in a few years, the purses will be high enough to make the Oklahoma Derby, to make it even more of a national race," Day said.

And that's the next big step for the derby, getting a national grading. Grading is like accreditation. Tracks are graded one to three, one being the races with the best horses and the largest purses.

The committee that does the grading only meets once a year, and from about 2,000 races they pick the top 400 and grade them.

Remington is hoping its growing success and purse structure will soon give them a leg up.

"Once it gets that graded accreditation, then it really steps up to become a race you can circle on the calendar and horseman are looking for it," Day said.

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