Remington Park
 Casino entrance at Remington Park | |
| Location | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Owned by | Chickasaw Nation |
| Date opened | 1988 |
| Official website | |
Remington Park is a horse racing track and casino located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Built in 1988 by Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., it was the first world-class pari-mutuel track in Oklahoma. Since 2010, Global Gaming RP has owned and operated the racing facility.
History
Remington Park was built by the late Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., the shopping mall developer who also owned Thistledown in Cleveland, Ohio and Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, Louisiana. Remington Park officially opened on September 1, 1988. At the time, it was the only American track to use a synthetic surface for its main track called Equitrack, which utilized grains of sand coated with a wax polymer. The intent was to provide a safe all-weather racing surface that would provide a fast condition for all races. The Equitrack experiment failed as the surface did not hold up during the very warm Oklahoma summers. Remington Park replaced Equitrack with a more traditional natural ingredient racing surface.
No other American track used a synthetic surface until 2005, when Turfway Park installed an improved product called Polytrack.[1] The main dirt track is one mile in circumference with the inner turf course measuring seven furlongs. Since 2005 Remington Park has included a casino with 750 slot machines.[2] In 2009, the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America, and rated Remington Park #3. Remington Park is now owned by Global Gaming RP who purchased the facility via auction in 2009 from Magna Entertainment Corporation. Global Gaming began operations at Remington Park on January 1, 2010.
Physical Attributes
Racing: Remington Park’s main track is a one mile oval with a sandy loam surface. The turf course is 7/8 mile Bermuda with a 1 1/8 chute. The grandstand is 375,000 sq. ft. and accommodates 10,000 people. Remington Park’s stable area houses up to 1,400 horses with a 20 stall stakes barn.
Casino Floor: Since 2005, Remington Park also features a world-class casino floor that houses 750 continually-updated gaming machines, including reel slots as well as video poker. The casino floor currently features a full-service restaurant, a full bar, cocktail service, concessions, and a stage for live performances.
Races
The track features an American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa season March through June. The Thoroughbred season begins August through December.[2] In addition, Remington Park annually hosts the richest race in Oklahoma, the $1,000,000 Heritage Place Futurity in May and the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby headlines the Thoroughbred season in the fall. The rest of the year the park is open for casino gaming and simulcast racing.
Restaurants and Amenities
Remington Park’s facility contains three restaurants: Bricktown Brewery, Henry Hudson’s, and Silks Fine Dining.
Bricktown Brewery is open daily on the casino floor. Henry Hudson’s on track level is open only during live racing, as is Silks Fine Dining on the Clubhouse Level.
In addition to these, Remington Park contains 6 full bars throughout the building: Old No. 7 Bar, Player’s Bar and Book, Club One Bar, Crown Royal Lounge, Steinies Bar, and Legacies Bar.
In addition to wagering opportunities during live racing, Remington Park also houses daily simulcasting venues and mutuels tellers for off-track betting on racetracks around the world.
On the top level of the facility, Remington Park houses 20 luxury suites overlooking the track, both public and private.
Key Races and Historical Moments
Bold Les won the first pari-mutuel race in track history, the Inaugural Handicap for Oklahoma-breds, on Sept. 1, 1988. Buddy Winnett was the jockey for trainer Mark Holder and owner J.J. Williams
Clever Trevor won the first Oklahoma Derby on March 18, 1989. (Originally called the Remington Park Derby, the race name changed to honor the state in 2001).
July 4, 1991: the ‘Battle of the Breeds’ was held as a 3-horse match race between and American Quarter Horse, a Paint, and an Appaloosa took place. Very Easy, the Appaloosa, won the winner-take-all $10,000 event. The losing connections begged for a rematch and two weeks later ‘Battle of the Breeds II’ was held with Heavenly Smash, a Quarter Horse prevailing.
Marked Tree swept the three-race ‘Remington Park Derby’ series, winning the Budweiser Stakes, the Great West Stakes and then the Derby on April 3, defeated the local fan favorite Brother Brown by a neck.
June 20, 1993: the ‘Rumble at Remington’ was run on Fathers’ Day as Thoroughbred sprint star Darrell Darrell defeated Quarter Horse EJ Cash Bo in a 1,000-yard match race. A $25,000 winner-take-all affair, the :51.92 final time set a track record at the rarely run distance.
November 14, 1993: The Inaugural Oklahoma Classics was conducted featuring a series of divisional stakes races for eligible Oklahoma-breds, not unlike the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships but on a state level. Brother Brown won the first Classic as a 3yo, now known as the Classics Cup.
March 19, 1994: Silver Goblin defeated, among others, Concern (3rd) in the Great West Stakes, the final prep race for the Oklahoma Derby. Concern would win the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Classic, later that year.
July 3, 1994: a superstar lineup of Quarter Horses took part in the Remington Park Championship. Dubbed the “Battle of the Best” featuring multiple World Champion Refrigerator and divisional AQHA champs Junos Request and Sound Dash. Viewed as a showdown between Refrigerator and Junos Request, Sound Dash pulled a mild upset.
June 1, 1997: SLM Big Daddy wins the Remington Park Championship over 1995 AQHA World Champion Winalota Cash. SLM Big Daddy would be voted the AQHA World Champion in both 1997 and 1998.
May 10, 1998: dubbed the “Showdown at Remington,” AQHA World Champion SLM Big Daddy narrowly defeated divisional champion Dashing Perfection in the Remington Park Gold Cup. The race was hyped with a commercial that featured jockeys Jacky Martin (SLM Big Daddy) and G.R. Carter (Dashing Perfection) in an old west gunfight.
November 15, 1998: jockey Don Pettinger becomes the first rider in Remington Park history to win 1,000 races in Oklahoma City, riding Valley of Kings to victory for trainer Donnie Von Hemel.
Sept. 5, 1999: Temperence Time defeated Eclipse-Award winner Answer Lively by 1-1/2 lengths in the Oklahoma Derby, a Grade 3 event for the first time. Answer Lively was the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Winner, becoming the first horse to race at Remington Park after winning a Breeders’ Cup event.
The first full night of live racing took place Friday, Jan. 19 during the 2001 Winter Thoroughbred Season.
Feb. 2, 2001: jockey Cliff Berry becomes the second rider to record 1,000 Remington Park wins, scoring aboard Lightspeedtoendor in the final race of the night for trainer John Beall, Jr. and owner Willow Ridge Farms of Norman, Okla.
June 9, 2001: Tailor Fit becomes the only horse in track history to win the prestigious Remington Park Championship three consecutive years (1999, 2000, 2001). He was voted the AQHA World Champion in 1999 and 2001.
Nov. 21, 2004: Wally’s Choice won the Grade 3, Oklahoma Derby over a muddy track at odds of 33-1, paying $69.80 to win as the longest-priced winner in the history of the race. The Oklahoma Derby lost its graded status after 2004, after six-runnings as a grade 3 race (1999-2004).
June 1, 2008: Stolis Winner captures the first million-dollar race at Remington Park, the $1,106,320 Heritage Place Futurity. Stolis Winner would go on to capture the All American Futurity and be voted the 2008 AQHA World Champion The 2009 Heritage Place Futurity on May 30 carried a purse of $1,107,000, the richest ever race in Oklahoma history, won by Ragazzo.
Dec. 9, 2012: Texas Bling wins the Springboard Mile at odds of 128-1, paying $259.60 to win, the longest-priced winner in the history of the top 2-year-old Thoroughbred event at Remington Park.
Major Thoroughbred Races
- Governor’s Cup
- Red Earth Stakes
- Edward J Debartolo Memorial Handicap
- Ricks Memorial Stakes
- Remington Park Turf Sprint Stakes
- Tishomingo Stakes
- Te Ata Stakes
- Ladies on the Lawn
- Remington Park Oaks
- Kip Deville Stakes
- Remington Park Sprint Cup
- Remington Green Stakes
- Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby
- Oklahoma Classics Distaff
- Oklahoma Classics Sprint
- Oklahoma Classics Distaff Sprint
- Oklahoma Classics Juvenile
- Oklahoma Classics Lassie
- Oklahoma Classics Cup
- E L Gaylord Memorial Stakes
- Clever Trevor Stakes
- Silver Goblin Stakes
- Oklahoma Stallion Stakes – Fillies
- Useeit Stakes
- Jim Thorpe Stakes
- The Trapeze
- Remington Springboard Mile
Major Quarter Horse Races
- Grade 2 Eastex Handicap
- Mighty Deck Three Handicap
- ALM Big Daddy Stakes
- Grade 1 Speedhorse Graham Paint and Appaloosa Derby
- Grade 1 Oklahoma Paint Horse Futurity
- Oklahoma Quarter Horse Derby
- Grade 2 Oklahoma Quarter Horse Futurity
- Grade 3 Decketta Stakes
- Paul Harber Memorial Stakes
- Grade 1 Leo Stakes
- Mr. Jet Moore Stakes
- Grade 3 Pauls Valley Handicap
- Victoria Ennis Memorial Stakes
- Grade 1 Mister Lewie Memorial Handicap
- Remington Park Oklahoma Bred Futurity
- Grade 2 Bob Moore Memorial Stakes
- Laico Bird Stakes
- Mr Master Bug Stakes
- Remignton Park Oklahoma Bred Juvenile Stakes
- Grade I PSBA American Paint Derby
- Grade I PSBA American Paint Classic Futurity
- Grade I Sooner State Stakes
- Zoetis Remington Park Starter Allowance Challenge
- Merial Remington Park Distaff Challenge
- Grade 2 Band of America Oklahoma Challenge Championship
- Grade 3 Red Cell Remington Park Distance Challenge
- Grade I National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Stakes
- Easy Date Handicap
- FL Lady Bug Stakes
References
External links
Coordinates: 35°31′42″N 97°28′07″W / 35.52833°N 97.46861°W