Whizkey Glasses (#2), gains the lead to win the Heritage Place Derby on May 28 at Remington Park. Jockey Francisco Calderon won his first seasonal riding title while owner Dunn Ranch. won their second straight leading owner title.

© Dustin Orona Photography

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—MAY 28, 2022–It came down to the final night of racing, but on the coattails of wins by Political Rose and Whizkey Glasses in the Heritage Place Oaks and Heritage Place Derby, respectively, Dunn Ranch (Matt Dunn) of Wynnewood, Okla., secured its second owners’ title in a row at Remington Park.

Jockey Francisco Calderon and trainer Santos Carrizales, Jr. were able to win their respective crowns for the first time in Oklahoma City. They had virtually clinched their titles going into the final night.

Going into finale night, Dunn Ranch had 12 wins to Josefina Guzman’s 11. Guzman is from Dallas, Texas, and had her horses with Carrizales this meet. Dunn Ranch calls on the services of Monty Arrossa for training its horses.

Guzman tied it up 11-11 in the first race of closing night when her 2-year-old filly Spatielle broke her maiden by a neck as the 3-5 favorite. That set it up for a showdown on the rest of the card as Dunn Ranch had Political Rose in the inaugural Heritage Place Oaks, which was run as the ninth of 12 races on the card, and Whizkey Glasses in the Heritage Place Derby, the 10th race.

Guzman had one final hope in the Heritage Place Futurity, the final race of the meet, with Turcotte. If either one of Dunn Ranch’s horses won their big races, the race for top owner would still be up for grabs.

Neither would lose, and when Whizkey Glasses won the Heritage Place Derby after Political Rose came in an easy winner in the Heritage Place Oaks, Guzman had no chance to win the title. It didn’t matter, however, as Turcotte only beat one horse in the Futurity, his stablemate, Ivory Senator. Ivory Senator and Fancy Scarface were the two fastest qualifiers in the Futurity trials for Carrizales, but they finished last and second-to-last.

The final top five for top owners were:

1. Dunn Ranch, 40 starts, 13 wins, four seconds and four thirds, 33 percent winners, 53 percent in the money (first, second or third)
2.  Guzman, 21-11-3-2, 52 percent winners, 76 percent in the money
3. Elizabeth Logan, 12-8-1-2, 67 percent winners, 92 percent in the money
4. Bella Vista Farms (Fred Helmuth), Regina Laymon, Bryan Hawk, Robin Haggard, Reliance Ranches (Micah McKinney) Jeff Adams and Shelley Goodnight (seven-way tie for fourth with 7 wins each).

In the money earned by horses category, the 95-year-old Logan was the winner with $827,885, followed by Dunn Ranch ($769,545), Guzman ($499,625), Laymon ($342,109) and rounding out the top five was Rogelio Marquez, Jr. (322,186).

Calderon finished the meet with the third-fewest wins by a jockey title holder in the history of the Quarter Horse / Paints / Appaloosas meet with 39. Only Kent Koyle’s 35 in 1992 and Larry Payne’s 29 in 2003 were lower. Calderon’s 39 victories compared to Juan Pulido’s 46 last year and James Flores’ 61 in 2020. The most all-time was 98 by G.R. Carter in 2008. Carter won the most titles here in history, 18, including a streak of 12 in a row from 2004-2015. Ivan Carnero broke that streak in 2016.

Calderon’s big horse this meet was Whizkey Glasses.

The final jockey top five were:

1. Calderon, 224 starts, 39 wins, 36 seconds, 36 thirds, 17 percent winners, in the money 45 percent
2. Justine Klaiber, 249-32-35-32, 13 percent winners, 40 percent in money
3. Juan Pulido, 99-30-12-11, 30 percent winners, 54 percent in money
4. James Flores, 181-29-28-16, 16 percent winners, 40 percent in money; Cody Smith, 16-29-19-17, 18 percent winners, 41 percent in money (tied for fourth) .

20-year-old Bryan Candanosa, in his first meet at Remington Park, had horses that earned $1,434,597 to finish best in mount earnings. He rode Tres Crystals to wins in the Oklahoma Futurity and the Heritage Place Futurity for Logan. He was the first horse ever to pull off that double.

The rest of the top five were Calderon ($1,344,938), Pulido ($865,760), Klaiber ($864,805) and Flores (818,616).

Carrizales maintained his lead in the trainers’ standings through the final week over 12-time training title winner Eddie Willis. The top conditioner ended the meet with 36 winners to Willis’ 31. Dee Keener tied for second, also with 31, moving into that tie with a win by Tres Crystals in the Heritage Place Futurity. Finishing fourth and fifth were Clint Crawford (25) and Ty Blackwell (20).

In the earnings race, Carrizales held the lead with the money his horses earned going into the final race of the meet. He had three with a chance to win the big prize, but they were the last three horses when the Heritage Place Futurity was run. Keener’s trip to the winner’s circle with Tres Crystals gave him the championship in money earned.

Tres Crystals earned $467,225 and Carrizales’ three finalists combined won $77,871. Keener finished with $1,558,136 to Carrizales’ $1,545,192, a difference of $12,944. Amazing how one race made that change in the blink of an eye.

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Tracked by more than 170,000 fans on Facebook and 10,600 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $290 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 features simulcast horse racing daily and the casino is always open! Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.