A pair of runners coming off career efforts at Saratoga, a five-time stakes winner in from Canada, a local who boasts a 3-for-5 record at Remington Park, and a Grade 1-placed maiden make for an interesting renewal of the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sunday.
The 1 1/8-mile race is the richest of the meet and will be showcased on a 10-race card that has a special afternoon post of 3 p.m. Central. There are a total of eight stakes making up the program, including the new $250,000 Great West Turf Sprint.
The Oklahoma Derby is expected to go with a field of seven after trainer Lonnie Briley said Thursday that he intended to scratch morning-line favorite Coal Battle.
Iron Dome will get good support as he seeks to win his fourth consecutive race. He built his streak against New York-breds at Saratoga, where he won a maiden race by 10 1/2 lengths in his fifth career start and the $200,000 Albany by 6 3/4 lengths in his most recent out on Aug. 21.
“I think that the horse is finally growing into himself,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “When you see him, you’ll understand why. He’s not big. He’s huge.”
Iron Dome enters off a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 93.
“He ran three races on top of each other at Saratoga and got faster every race,” Asmussen said. “It’s everything we could have hoped to have happen.”
Asmussen said Iron Dome’s pedigree suggested the horse was capable of the accomplishment. He noted the son of Into Mischief is a half-brother to Mr. Buff, an 11-time stakes winner who earned $1.4 million.
Iron Dome’s wins have all come at 1 1/8 miles. Jose Ortiz was aboard for each of them and again will be in the saddle Sunday when Iron Dome breaks from post 2.
Bracket Buster also last raced at Saratoga, finishing second to Sovereignty in the Travers on Aug. 23. He contested the pace and was beaten 10 lengths by the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner while earning a career-high Beyer of 102.
“He ran a huge race,” said Victoria Oliver, who trains Bracket Buster. “He happened to run into probably the best 3-year-old we’ve seen in a long time and he ran his race. I think the mile and a quarter was a touch too far for my horse, and we got beat by a better horse, but he laid it out there and gave a big effort.”
Bracket Buster won his first stakes, the Pegasus at Monmouth Park, two starts ahead of the Travers. He is a son of Vekoma.
“I think he improves every start,” Oliver said. “He was almost a June foal, so it’s taken a long time to mature, and I think each race we’ve seen him mature more. He just keeps getting better and better. I think he’ll be an even better 4-year-old, but he’s really matured and he’s come around to be a really nice horse.”
Luis Saez has the mount on Bracket Buster from post 4.
“He’s so good away from the gate, it usually puts him close,” Oliver said.
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Take Charge Tom was a 5 3/4-length winner of the Grade 3 Canadian Derby on Aug. 23 at Century Mile. He stalked the pace in the 1 1/4-mile race and roared home.
“We had wanted to get him to sit off the pace several times and it just never worked out, the way the races set up,” trainer Robertino Diodoro said. “I think he showed in the Canadian Derby he’s a little better horse when he has a target and can sit off the pace a little bit. That’s what we’re going to try to do on Sunday as well.”
Ramon Vazquez has the mount from post 4.
“The race didn’t come up easy,” Diodoro said. “He’s going to have to step it up, and I think he’s capable of doing that.”
Publisher, a maiden who is Grade 1-placed with earnings of more than $400,000, enters off a close fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby on July 5.
“He’s a very good horse that is obviously capable of winning a race like this, and Sunday would be a good day to prove it,” said Asmussen of his second Oklahoma Derby entrant.
The Indiana Derby has produced three next-out stakes winners in Tip Top Thomas, Instant Replay, and Big Truzz, while third-place finisher Brotha Keny came back two starts later to win the Bourbon Flight at Churchill Downs.
Publisher will break from post 5 under Erik Asmussen.
Mister Omaha will break from the rail as he seeks to win his fourth race over the local main track. He’s a top Oklahoma-bred who has been facing open company of late, running fourth in the Texas Derby, third in the Iowa Derby, and fourth in the Super Derby. Luis Quinonez has the mount on the three-time stakes winner for trainer Joe Offolter.
The field is completed by local stakes winner Colonel Yorke and the multiple stakes-placed Hot Gunner.
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