A dozen stakes worth north of $2.5 million overfill the marquee Saturday night at Remington Park for the American Quarter Horse season finale. The Night of Champions is one of the AQHA’s most important programs annually and is capped by the $1.1 million Heritage Place Futurity. The 12-race card gets underway at a special 6 pm ET / 5 pm CT post time.
Let’s hop on the handicapping express to the track where I got my first full-time gig in racing.
Race 1: Grade 1 $20,000 Speedhorse Graham Paint & Appaloosa Stakes
#7 Turbulent exits a third-place finish against elder rivals, including 10-time stakes winner Livewires Turnpike, and can outrun fellow sophomores here, including #8 Cuz Eyema Cowboy Baby right next door.
Race 2: Grade 1 $224,600 Speedhorse Graham Paint & Appaloosa Futurity
Nobody has blemished #6 Big Rotney so far in 5 starts and he stands a big chance at adding a third futurity final to his resume and unthinkable sixth win at a 50-day meeting.
Race 3: Grade 1 $50,000 Remington Park Distance Championship
The reigning AQHA Distance Champion #3 Handin Out Candy has run roughshod around the hook this season at Remington Park and is well-drawn for an eighth straight victory and third stakes win of the meeting.
Race 4: Restricted-Grade 3 $50,000 Jack Brooks Stakes
We’ll see the top-3 finishers from the Sooner State Stakes clash in the Grade 1 Remington Park Invitational Championship later on the card, which makes that race’s fourth-place finisher, #5 B Aj, a standout here back with state-bred sophomores.
Race 5: Restricted-Grade 3 $75,000 FL Lady Bug Stakes
They paid a mint in AQHA terms - $185,000 – for #3 She Makes It Special, and she should bounce back on a fast track from her Grade 1 Heritage Place Futurity trials defeat.
Race 6: Restricted-Grade 2 $75,000 Easy Jet Stakes
Remington Park Futurity third-place finisher #4 Pyc Dollars Cowboy gets the nod in a deep cast that includes the 1-3 finishers of the Laico Bird Stakes and the Remington Park Juvenile.
Race 7: Restricted-Grade 2 $75,000 Boyd Morris Memorial Stakes
Defending champ #8 Js On Fire dropped in class to win this race a year ago and makes a similar move, but #7 Hard to Politic just to his inside is the pick to get the better of him with similar class relief.
Race 8: Grade 1 $100,000 Juno’s Request Stakes
All-or-nothing #9 Catchn Southern Rays never showed up on a sloppy track after missing the break last time but has had a tendency to bounce back after past misfires.
Race 9: Grade 2 $373,800 Heritage Place Oaks
The late pick 4 begins with standout filly #6 Toby Sis, the Grade 1 Los Alamitos 2 Million Futurity winner who is a neck shy of being 7-for-7 lifetime.
Race 10: Grade 2 $335,800 Heritage Place Derby
Fastest-qualifier #1 Luziana Man has had issues delivering in prior finals, so give a longshot look to #4 Ajs Wingman (12-1 morning line) – who has been knocking on the door all season and was an All American Futurity finalist a year ago.
Race 11: Grade 1 $250,000 Remington Park Invitational Championship
A pair of All American Futurity winners and the defending champ in this race are in the lineup, but it’s 8-year-old #10 Empressum (the 2022 AQHA World Champion) who could find the fountain of youth with a return to his favored 440-yard classic distance.
Race 12: Grade 1 $1.1 million Heritage Place Futurity
#7 Curls Favorite Jet and #2 Fall Classic (pictured) were fastest qualifiers in the May 7-8 trials and the former did so during a part of the card and part of the track where conditions were not in his favor, a key handicapping angle for me in stakes finals like this.
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