Remington Park meet opens Aug. 16; stakes honors Toby Keith

The Remington Park Thoroughbred stakes schedule for the season that begins Aug. 16 will feature the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 29. The schedule of races carries more than $3 million in stakes purse money.

Oklahoma Derby Day, on the lone Sunday afternoon of the season, will host eight stakes events with total purses of more than $1 million.

The meet also has a cornerstone race for 2-year-olds, the $300,000 Springboard Mile, which offers qualifying points for the 2025 Kentucky Derby. The Springboard Mile night will conclude the season on Friday, Dec. 13 with six stakes races, including one with a new moniker.

There lone name change on the schedule this season has the former Trapeze Stakes renamed the Toby Keith Stakes, in honor of the late Oklahoma country singer-songwriter and horseman. The $75,000 Toby Keith Stakes will be run Dec. 13 for 2-year-old fillies at one mile.

Keith was a horse owner and breeder who raced primarily under his stable name of Dream Walkin Farms. He had a banner career in racing as his horses earned more than $18 million on the racetrack, according to Equibase statistics.

Dream Walkin Farms’ top horse all-time was Smack Smack, who earned $986,419 overall and won the 2013 Clever Trevor Stakes and 2015 Governor’s Cup at Remington Park. He also was victorious in the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3) in Altoona, Iowa, and the Downs at Albuquerque Handicap in New Mexico, both in 2016.

Keith died in February at age 62 after a battle with stomach cancer. The 6-foot-4 Oklahoman made his breakthrough in the 1990s with his hit song “Should Have Been a Cowboy.” He finished his career with 20 No. 1-Billboard hit songs, including “Beer for My Horses.”

Last year’s Oklahoma Derby and Springboard Mile winners were 44-1 long shot How Did He Do That and Otto the Conqueror, respectively, both from trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn. Asmussen extended his historical run of training titles at Remington Park in 2023, now with 18 under his belt. The closest to him in second place is Donnie Von Hemel with 12.

State-bred runners get their annual night to shine with the renewal of the Oklahoma Classics on Friday, Oct. 18. The lucrative night of stakes racing, restricted to eligible Oklahoma-breds, will feature the $175,000 Oklahoma Classics Cup as the richest event.