Racing


Southern Electric Sets 350 Yard Track Record For Paints, Winning $20,000 Paul Harber Memorial Stakes
Southern Electric breaking the track record for Paints at 350 yards, winning the $20,450 Paul Harber Memorial Stakes at Remington Park on Friday night. Jockey Andrew Samaniego was in the saddle for the record-breaking win.

© Dustin Orona Photography
Southern Electric Sets 350 Yard Track Record For Paints, Winning $20,000 Paul Harber Memorial Stakes

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—APRIL 9, 2021— It doesn’t matter who owners Dan and Kaye Jones send out in the Paul Harber Memorial Stakes at Remington Park each year; they know how to win this race.

On Friday night, it was Southern Electric, and all he did was set the track record for Paints at 350 yards in the race.

For the second year in a row, jockey Andrew Samaniego was aboard for the Joneses of Kemp, Texas, and for trainer Matt Whitekiller. Oddly enough, the horse Samaniego won this race with last year, Live Moonshine, also trained by Whitekiller, was in this year’s field and the jock beat him with Southern Electric.

On Friday, Southern Electric, a 4-year-old gelded son of Crm Livewire, out of the Southern Cartel (QH) mare Ze Southern Girl (QH), stopped the timer at 350 yards in :17.185 seconds.

The winning connections of Southern Electric accept the Paul Harber Memorial Stakes at trophy Remington Park on Friday night.. © Duston Orona Photography
That dusted the old record of :17.232 set by The Cock of the Walk in 2010. It was Whitekiller’s fourth win in the stakes and second consecutive year for the Joneses and Samaniego.

"Southern Electric ran the best race of his life," said Whitekiller. "Just a huge race. I think Live Moonshine needed a race. Sometimes older horses just need an out when they’ve been off that long."

Live Moonshine hadn’t run since Nov. 14 at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore last year, the last race that Southern Electric ran in before Friday. Southern Electric is 4 years old and Live Moonshine is 5 years old.

Southern Electric was no less than electric, hitting the wire 1-3/4 lengths in front. He earned a 101 speed index with the track record. The longshot Snow Advisory (16-1) got up for second for a 92 SI and Live Moonshine, the 2-1 favorite, ran third another half-length behind.

Southern Electric had only gone off higher than 5-2 odds once in his last 10 races, but on Friday, he was a generous 3-1 price at the windows. He paid $8, $4.40 and $2.60 across the board. The winner earned $11,850 from the $20,450 purse and improved his career record to 20 starts, 12 wins, three seconds and two thirds for a total bankroll of $246,821. Southern Electric was bred in Texas by the owners.

Runner-up Snow Advisory races for owner Jennifer Chapa and is conditioned by trainer Anseimo Cruz. Jonathan Dominguez had the riding call aboard the 5-year-old paint daughter from the Quarter Horse stallion Lota Pyc out of Snow Warning by Sf Royal Quick Flash. The mare earned $3,950 to boost her bankroll to $38,283. Ronald Yates bred Snow Advisory in Arkansas.

Whitekiller also saddled third-place finisher Live Moonshine for owner-breeders Dan and Kaye Jones. Cody Smith rode the multiple stakes winning son of Crm Livewire from the Awesome Chrome mare Prp Sedona Sunset. The $1,485 third-place pay day brings Live Moonshine's career mark to over $192,000.

Queen For Cash, Dtl Samureye and Dtl Chasin Tale completed the field. Nbc Mr Blackie and Tales U Lose were both scratched.

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At the end of the night, Dee Keener, the all-time winningest trainer in Paint history, had 329 career victories to Whitekiller’s 327. Keener and Whitekiller were both chasing the late, great King of Paints, Lew Wartchow, for years and finally passed him in 2020. Wartchow finished his career with 321 wins. He hit his mark and held onto it for quite a while before the two pups finally caught him. Wartchow had passed the 300-win mark starting only 1,485 horses in his career. That’s some 500 fewer horses than Keener and 700 fewer than Whitekiller.

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Tracked by more than 165,000 fans on Facebook and 10,400 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $258 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park is open daily for casino gaming and simulcast horse racing. The 2021 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season continues through May 29. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.