Looking back 22 years ago - Remington Park 22nd Anniversary

HISTORY & STORY
Courtesy of Dale Day

Remington Park opened on September 1, 1988, just a few years after Oklahomans legalized pari-mutuel horse racing in a referendum earlier in the decade. Seated on 375 acres in northeast Oklahoma City, Remington Park was built at a cost of nearly $100 million and founded by the late Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.

Always noted for outstanding and competitive racing, Remington Park has had many stars emerge from its ranks, including the great Oklahoma-bred Clever Trevor who immediately put the track on the national map. He won the inaugural Oklahoma Derby (then known as the Remington Park Derby) in 1989. That race served as a stepping stone to a season where he would earn more than $1 million and compete in the Kentucky Derby.

The American Quarter Horse Season has always been star-studded with the best in the sport annually calling Remington Park home. Stars such as Refrigerator, Winalota Cash, SLM Big Daddy, Tailor Fit and Stolis Winner are just a few of the World Champions that regularly campaigned in Oklahoma City.

Large crowds packed Remington Park in the early years, frequenting the seasons for Thoroughbred and American Quarter Horse racing. The largest gathering in track history took place on February 29, 1992 when 26,411 came to the track to for a Wallet Day promotional giveaway. The richest pari-mutuel payoff in track history took place when there was one perfect ticket in the Remington Park Pick Six on February 24, 1990. The ticket was worth $1,070,482.50.

The competitive landscape for the entertainment dollar changed drastically in the mid-1990s as Native American Casinos sprang up around Oklahoma. With that in mind, Oklahomans chose to allow the state’s racetracks to have similar business structures when State Question 712 was passed by a resounding vote on November 2, 2004. The measure allowed Remington Park to add Electronic Casino Gaming to its entertainment experience. The Casino opened in late November 2005 after a massive $35 Million renovation of the facility was completed. The Casino addition immediately brought large crowds back to Remington Park. Attendance topped 1.5 million in 2008, establishing a new record for guests in a calendar year. Record crowds have also returned to Remington Park for the biggest racing events throughout the year such as the Triple Crown races, the Breeders’ Cup and the best in live racing like the Heritage Place Futurity and Remington Park Championship night in the Quarter Horse Season and the Oklahoma Derby during the Thoroughbred Season.

The first Million-dollar race in Oklahoma history took place on June 1, 2008 at Remington Park with the running of the $1,106,320 Heritage Place Futurity, won by Stolis Winner. The seven-digit, Grade 1 event has placed Remington Park into an elite category of just a handful of racetracks that host an American Quarter Horse race worth more than a million dollars. Remington Park proudly presents this million-dollar race on the final weekend of each Quarter Horse season. The 2009 Heritage Place Futurity toppled the mark for the richest race in state history with a total purse of $1,107,000.

The Oklahoma Derby has been revitalized in recent years and continues to serve as Remington Park’s marquee Thoroughbred race. Thanks to a growing purse structure for the derby and other major stakes races, Remington Park now regularly draws horses that compete on a national-level in the highly-regarded graded races.

The 2010 Oklahoma Derby, at $400,000+, will be the richest Thoroughbred race ever contested in Oklahoma. Placed just a few weeks before the Breeders’ Cup Championships, the Oklahoma Derby provides an excellent final prep-race for those 3-year-olds that will compete in the richest race day in America.