OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—JANUARY 14, 2022—The 2022 Remington Park American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season begins Thursday, March 3, continuing for 50 dates through May 28.

The season's stakes schedule features a total of seven Grade 1 events for Quarter Horses, two of them restricted. They will include estimated purses of $925,000 for the restricted Grade 1 Remington Park Futurity and $1 million for the Grade 1 Heritage Place Futurity. The stakes schedule also includes seven Grade 1 races for Paints and Appaloosas for a total of 14 Grade 1s this season.

The Heritage Place Futurity on closing Day, Saturday, May 28, is the cornerstone race annually for 2-year-old Quarter Horses. The final day of racing features 10 stakes races with a total estimated value of more than $2 million. Last year's purse in the Heritage Place Futurity was largest in history at Remington Park - $1,314,980. Trials are scheduled for May 5-6.

The Remington Park Futurity, for 2-year-old Quarter Horses, is scheduled for Saturday, April 16. Trials for that race are set for April 1-2. The Remington Park Futurity is a restricted Grade 1 event for Oklahoma-breds.

The historic Grade 2 Oklahoma Futurity will begin the big-money futurity proceedings on Saturday, March 19. The 81st edition of Quarter Horse racing's longest-running futurity is estimated to have a purse of $475,000.

Last year's Remington Park races included the 2021 AQHA World Champion, Danjer, trained by Dean Frey of Edmond, Okla. Now a 6-year-old gelding, Danjer is expected to return this season to follow the same starting path he took to his title status, which could include attempts on the Grade 1, $100,000 Leo Stakes on April 30 and the Grade 1, $250,000 Debbie Schauf Remington Park Championship on May 28.

Danjer showed why he was voted the World Champion with the effort put forth to score in Remington's top race for older horses, by coming from the clouds, flying to victory like Pegasus on the season's final night.

Breaking poorly from the gate, Danjer was in grave danger, chasing a champion in his own right, Apollitical Pence, who broke like a rocket. Apollitical Pence, the winner of two consecutive Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos, looked like a sure winner with 100 yards to go. Danjer, under a red-hot Cody Smith (three stakes wins on closing night 2021), found another gear and flew past the leader like he was standing still.

"My horse likes to eyeball a horse in front of him and use that horse as a target to catch. That horse had us daylighted. It's just a testament to how fast Danjer is," said Smith.

Danjer is fast indeed, recording the highest speed index of the night at 103, stopping the clock in 21.217 seconds for 440 yards.

Frey was a man of few words after the big win.

"Undescribable how I feel," he said. "It was such a good feeling. Going to be hard trying to sleep tonight."

Danjer was nearly unbeatable last year against older horses, winning five of his seven starts. He was not only overall World Champion but also repeated in two categories, Champion Aged Horse and Champion Aged Gelding. Smith was aboard for all attempts in Danjer's Championship season.

The complete stakes schedule has 41 races, worth total purses estimated to be close to $6 million. That's two more stakes races than 2021. The two stakes added this year are the $30,000 Oklahoma Paint and Appaloosa Horse Futurity Juvenile Stakes on Saturday, March 19 for 2-year-olds going 300 yards, and the $50,000-added Heritage Place Oaks on closing day for 3-year-old Quarter Horse fillies, covering 400 yards.

Other than the major purses near the $1 million mark or over, there are six other races whose purses exceed $200,000. The Grade 3, $250,000 Oklahoma Derby and the Grade 2, $475,000 Oklahoma Futurity on March 19. The restricted Grade 2, $350,000 Remington Park Derby on April 16 for Oklahoma-breds. The final night of the season on May 28 will include the Grade 1, $275,000 Speedhorse Graham Paint & Appaloosa Futurity, the Grade 2, $350,000 Heritage Place Derby and the Grade 1, Debbie Schauf Invitational older Quarter Horses at the classic distance of 440 yards.

The schedule of stakes races begins on opening weekend, Friday, March 4, with the $68,000 Mighty Deck Three for eligible Oklahoma-breds, 3 and older, at 250 yards. The stakes schedule holds 12 events for eligible Oklahoma-breds.

The opening week (March 3-6) will host plenty of trials, qualifying contenders for the first futurity and derby of the season. Qualifying trials begin Friday, March 4, for the Grade 1, $175,000 Oklahoma Paint & Appaloosa Futurity at 300 yards for 2-year-olds. Trials continue Saturday, March 5, for the Oklahoma Futurity for 2-year-old Quarter Horses and that will be followed with trials on Sunday, March 6, for the Oklahoma Derby for 3-year-old Quarter Horses at 350 yards.

American Quarter Horse Association Challenge races are scheduled again at Remington Park, taking place on different race days on the calendar. The finals for the Grade 2, $60,000-added Bank of America Oklahoma Championship Challenge will take place on Sunday, April 3, at 440 yards, for 3-year-olds and older. Trials could be contested for the race on March 18. The Grade 2, $27,500-added Remington Park Distance Challenge will be run on Sunday, April 24, at 870 yards, for 3-year-olds and older. Trials, if needed, will be run on April 9.

Many of the long-distance runners tend to utilize the Grade 3, $50,000 SLM Big Daddy Stakes as a tune-up for their turn races. The "Big Daddy" will be held on March 6 at 550 yards. The longer stakes races around the hook begin with the Grade 2, $50,000 Pauls Valley Stakes at 870 yards on Thursday, March 31. The final turn stakes of the season is the Grade 1, $50,000 Remington Park Distance Championship on May 28.

The entire stakes schedule for the spring season at Remington Park:

• March 4 – R-Grade 2, $68,000 Mighty Deck Three, 3yo and older, 250 yards (OK)
• March 6 – Grade 3, $50,000 SLM Big Daddy, 3yo and older, 550 yards
• March 19 – Grade 2, $475,000 Oklahoma Futurity, 2-year-olds, 300 yards
• March 19 – Grade 3, $250,000 Oklahoma Derby, 3-year-olds, 350 yards
• March 19 – Grade 1, $175,000 Oklahoma Paint & Appaloosa Futurity, 2-year-olds, 300 yards
• March 19 – Grade 2, $50,000 Eastex, 3yo and older, 350 yards
• March 19 – Grade 2, $50,000 Decketta, fillies and mares, 3yo and older, 350 yards
• March 19 - $50,000 Oklahoma Juvenile, 2-year-olds, 300 yards
• March 19 - $35,000 Speedhorse Graham Paint & Appaloosa Stakes, 3-year-olds, 350 yards
• March 19 - $30,000 Oklahoma Paint & Appaloosa Futurity Juvenile, 2-year-olds, 300 yards
• March 31 – Grade 2, $50,000 Pauls Valley, 3yo and older, 870 yards
• March 31 – R-Grade 2, $68,000 Mr Jet Moore, 3yo and older, 350 yards (OK)
• April 3 – Grade 2, $60,000 Bank of America Oklahoma Championship Challenge, 3yo and older, 440 yards
• April 8 - $20,000 Paul Harber Memorial, 3yo and older, Paints/Appaloosas, 350 yards
• April 16 – R-Grade 1, $925,000 Remington Park Futurity, 2-year-olds, 330 yards (OK)
• April 16 – R-Grade 2, $350,000 Remington Park Derby, 3-year-olds, 400 yards (OK)
• April 16 – R-Grade 1, $100,000 Dee Raper Sooner State, 3yo and older, 400 yards (OK)
• April 16 - $100,000 Remington Park Juvenile, 2-year-olds, 330 yards (OK)
• April 16 - $75,000 Grade 3, $75,000 Easy Date, fillies and mares, 3yo and older, 350 yards
• April 16 – R-Grade 3, $68,000 Laico Bird, 2-year-olds, 330 yards (OK)
• April 16 – R-Grade 3, $68,000 Mr Master Bug, 3-year-olds, 350 yards (OK)
• April 16 – Grade 2, $50,000 Bob Moore Memorial, 3yo and older, 300 yards
• April 23 – Grade 1, $150,000 American Paint Classic Futurity, 2-year-olds, 350 yards
• April 23 – Grade 1, $25,000 American Paint Stakes, 3-year-olds, 400 yards
• April 23 - $20,000 Victoria Ennis Memorial, 2-year-olds, Paints/Appaloosas, 330 yards
• April 24 – Grade 2, $27,500 Remington Park Distance Challenge, 3yo and older, 870 yards
• April 30 – Grade 1, $100,000 Leo, 3yo and older, 400 yards
• May 14 – Grade 1, $30,000 Mister Lewie Memorial, 3yo and older, Paints/Appaloosas, 400 yards
• May 21 – R-Grade 2, $68,000 Boyd Morris Memorial, 3yo and older, 400 yards, (OK)
• May 21 – R-Grade 3, $68,000 FL Lady Bug, 2-year-olds, 330 yards, (OK)
• May 21 – R-Grade 3, $50,000 Jack Brooks, 3-year-olds, 350 yards (OK)
• May 28 – Grade 1, $1,000,000 Heritage Place Futurity, 2-year-olds, 350 yards
• May 28 – Grade 2, $350,000 Heritage Place Derby, 3-year-olds, 400 yards
• May 28 – Grade 1, $275,000 Speedhorse Graham Paint & Appaloosa Futurity, 350 yards
• May 28 – Grade 1, $250,000 Debbie Schauf Remington Park Championship, 3yo and older, 440 yards
• May 28 – Grade 1, $100,000 Junos Request, fillies and mares, 3yo and older, 400 yards
• May 28 - $100,000 Heritage Place Juvenile, 2-year-olds, 350 yards
• May 28 – Grade 1, $50,000 Remington Park Distance Championship, 3yo and older, 870 yards
• May 28 - $50,000 Heritage Place Oaks, 3-year-old fillies, 400 yards
• May 28 – R-Grade 3, $50,000 Easy Jet, 2-year-olds, 350 yards, (OK)
• May 28 – Grade 1, $30,000 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 3yo and older, Paints/Appaloosas, 440 yards

Please note, the purses for all futurities and derbies are estimated.
"R" denotes a graded stakes race restricted to Oklahoma-breds.
(OK) denotes a stakes race for Oklahoma-breds.

Racing is scheduled to begin normally at 6pm with Sunday racing at 4pm. Special start times include Kentucky Derby Day (May 7) and Preakness Stakes Day (May 21) when Remington Park action begins at Noon. The Champions' Night program on May 28 will begin at 5pm. All times are Central.

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Tracked by more than 167,000 fans on Facebook and 10,600 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $285 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 begins the 2022 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa racing season on March 3. Simulcast horse racing featured daily, the casino is always open. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.