Take Charge Tom arrived Saturday at Remington Park for an intended start in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 28, according to his trainer, Robertino Diodoro.
Take Charge Tom is a five-time stakes winner who is coming off a victory in the Grade 3 Canadian Derby at Century Mile. The race was run over 1 1/4 miles and he will be backing up in distance to 1 1/8 miles for the Oklahoma Derby.
“The timing of the race is good for him and we’ve had some luck in it before,” Diodoro said. “Broadway Empire won the Canadian Derby and won the Oklahoma Derby.”
Diodoro said the Oklahoma Derby also was appealing in that he has a division set up at Remington.
“This was always kind of a race that we were hoping he’d be good enough to compete in,” Diodoro said. “He’s always run well for us, but I think he’s getting a little better still. He’s going to have to, to compete in the Oklahoma Derby, and we believe he deserves a shot.”
Take Charge Tom was a 5 3/4-length winner of the Canadian Derby on Aug. 23. He races for his breeder, Randy Howg, who is a resident of Canada and who co-owned Broadway Empire.
“I’ve trained for him for 30 years,” Diodoro said. “It’s nice that Take Charge Tom is a homebred. He’s hardly bred any horses in his life and to have a homebred, it’s kind of extra special for him.”
Take Charge Tom is a son of Tom’s d’Etat and the multiple stakes-winning mare Gorgeous Ginny. He won over 1 1/8 miles in the Mine That Bird Derby earlier this year at Sunland Park.
Preps for Classics Night
Remington Park puts on three Oklahoma-bred stakes Friday night and the races figure to produce starters for next month’s Oklahoma Classics Night.
Miss Code West, the reigning horse of the meet, goes in the Bob Barry Memorial. Tap the Dot will attempt to win the Red Earth for the third consecutive year, and Eakly is back in town for the Cliff Berry Turf Sprint.
The former Remington Park Turf Sprint was renamed this meet for Berry, the retired jockey who ranks as the all-time winningest rider at Remington.
The Classics Night card will feature a number of divisional stakes for horses bred in Oklahoma when it is renewed Oct. 17.
*** Fourth and Central, who won the Dr. Fager division of the Florida Sire Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, is by Cajun Breeze and has some ties to Louisiana. His dam, Little Red Frog, is a half-sister to He’s Just Lucky, who won the recent Louisiana Cup Sprint at Louisiana Downs with a Beyer Speed Figure of 103.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.