ROAD TO THE MILLION TARGETED BY WAVE OF JO

By Dale Day
Remington Park announcer


The World’s Fastest Athletes continue to impress on a nightly basis at Remington Park as we continue to feature some of the top 2-year-old racing in the country. With our season positioned early in the calendar year, we have the opportunity to witness the majority of the best 2-year-olds in America get their first start, either in maiden races or futurity trials.

Sunday night, the most impressive 2-year-old from the first 22 race dates made her pari-mutuel debut in the fourth race, a $16,600 maiden event at 330 yards.

Wave Of Jo had already produced a very quick bullet workout at 250 yards in late February, followed by a sharp training race win in late March. In her first real action on Sunday, she showed why she deserves to be on ‘The Road to the Million,’ the $1,000,000 Heritage Place Futurity on May 29.

Away from the starting gate on the outside of a field of 10, Wave Of Jo had an even start, not great… not bad. Under multiple champion jockey G.R. Carter, she quickly found her run, making up ground and taking the lead in the race by the halfway point. Using strong, ground-consuming strides, Wave Of Jo shot past all of her rivals with ease while running into a head-wind of 10-15 miles per hour that did not faze her.

Carter realized the event was over with about 100 yards remaining and wrapped up on Wave Of Jo, making sure she would have plenty left in the tank for future starts.

Trained by Heath Taylor, if Wave Of Jo comes out of her dominating 2-1/4 length victory in good shape, we can expect to see her next start in one of the two trial nights for the Heritage Place Futurity, either May 7 or 8. If she is one of the five fastest on her night of qualifying, she will graduate to the May 29 final.

Fine breeding doesn’t always pan out when a young horse gets to the racetrack but Wave Of Jo has that on her side as well. Her sire Wave Carver was the 2006 American Quarter Horse Association World Champion while her dam is past divisional champ and multiple Remington Park stakes winner Joanna Kate.

All systems seem to be ‘go’ for the newest charge for the Guymon, Okla. partnership of Jo Ann Adams and Duane Harrel. If she’s as good in a couple more races as she was on Sunday night, and it appears that she is the real deal, an early spring night at Remington Park may have been the debut stage of one who will race in the sport’s biggest event on Labor Day…but let’s see if she can navigate the ‘Road to the Million’ first.

My Dreams of being Lawrence of Arabia have been Fulfilled!

By Scott Wells
Alli Baba rider - The Winner of the Race!


Wow! Extreme Racing was Extremely Fun. At least for me. It was Extremely Exciting for a couple of my rivals and in every way unforgettable for everyone who came out to see. We mounted the camels right in front of the winner’s circle and immediately, Oklavision’s Brent Skarky was having a tough time with Sahara Sarah. Brent gets my vote for Hero of the Week. Not many people would’ve had the nerve to get back on “Sarah” after what she put him through. To begin with, camels are HUGE. Brent’s eyes about popped out when he first mounted and the first word to come out of his mouth was, “Wow!” And that was about two seconds before Sahara Sarah did her best impression of a rodeo bull. Brent hung on for dear life as Sarah lunged and hopped, slinging her handler around like the tail of a kite. And that was just for starters. Meanwhile, KFOR’s Lance West’s camel was about to roll over on him. And Steve O’Brien (of Magic 104) and I were having quite a time getting into those so-called saddles.


Once we were all mounted and our camels more or less accustomed to us, off we went toward the starting gate. That part was really fun. People lined the rail, yelling their encouragement and asking us who was going to win. Everything went pretty well until we got behind the starting gate. That’s when Brent earned his Medal of Courage. It’s individuals like Sahara Sarah who give camels a bad name. Once again she went into a camel gymnastic routine, throwing Brent all over the place, banging him around and finally throwing him from her back. In the process, Brent’s had taken a beating. At that point, most people would’ve definitely thrown in the towel. No one would’ve blamed him. World Champion jockey and longtime rodeo competitor G.R. Carter was right there to serve as a replacement, but Brent courageously “cowboyed up” and climbed back on Sahara Sarah once she was in the starting gate. In the meantime, you can’t imagine the sounds my camel was making in that starting gate! He was bellowing like a bull—obviously very eager to start running. The handlers had warned me that my camel Alli Baba “tended” to bear to the right. That was an understatement!

When that gate crashed open, Baba bolted to the right and though I pulled as hard as I could, there was no way I could straighten him up. I could see the other camels on my left and I could see the outside rail and I figured Alli Baba could see it, too, so I finally gave him his head and let him have it his way. Once we got alongside that rail, all I had to do was stay in synch with him and let him run as fast as he could—and believe me, that camel loves to run! I could see out of the corner of my eye that we were in front but what I couldn’t see was that Steve O’Brien, who was in second place, had slipped over to the left side of his camel and was hanging on for dear life! Steve finished second, with only his foot showing above the camel’s back. That took a lot of strength. It was the truest definition of “hanging in there” you’ll ever see! I’m sure it was a ride he’ll never forget.

Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, though I’m sure there are some sore muscles and painful memories. The crowd, in the meantime, had a terrific time and lots of laughs. Those who “bet” on my camel got ten dollars worth of free casino play or horse bets and regardless, their five dollar “bets” went to help the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund which is a great cause. We’re definitely going to do this again next year. I wonder, though, if it’ll be easy to find volunteers next time?

OK, the caravan has arrived and now I'm psyched!

By Scott Wells
Alli Baba rider
....Dreams of being Lawrence of Arabia!


OK, the caravan has arrived and now I'm psyched! I've discovered that I LOVE camels! They're not the ill-tempered foul-breath creatures I expected at all.

They're just big, loveable, UGLY horses (c'mon now--compared to a racehorse? You've gotta admit…). OK, I guess a mama camel or a born-and-raised camel person would see them as beautiful. And they certainly are beautifully-evolved animals.

I've learned more about camels in the past 12 hours than I could've imagined. One amazing thing is that those big calluses they have on their knees and hind legs are not regular callouses made by a buildup of worn skin. They're actually born with them. They have a big one right on the bottom of their chest, too. It's almost like a flat hoof.

It's so the places that make contact with the sand when they're lying down are protected from the heat. And speaking of "hooves," their feet are extremely weird. They're big soft two-toe pads about the size of dinner plates. The handler of the camels says they're so soft it really doesn't hurt too badly when one steps on you. I think I'll take his word on that one. I don't intend to find out for myself.

Another thing I learned is that I'll be riding BEHIND the hump! That's a little alarming because that's an extreme downward slope and believe me, camels have SKINNY BUTTS! There's lots of good thick wool to hold on to, though, so that's good. He says they're almost as fast as a horse and they're very competitive with each other. And just now, to make it even better, the TROPHIES just arrived! They're hilarious!

I want the big first-place one so badly I can't stand it. I can't wait! Let the games begin! Just call me "Lawrence of Remington!"


The Camels and Ostriches Races are tomorrow Saturday 04/10/2010
At Remington Park
Oklahoma City - Oklahoma
For more information call (405) 424-1000

Oysters and Salmon and Shrimp and Scallops Oh My!

I just came from having the best lunch I can remember in a while ... Remi's Buffet at Remington Park. There is so much variety you'd have to go 10 times to try it all! Today's highlights were delicious fried oysters, cajun salmon, shrimp and scallops in garlic butter, to name a few. There is always hand-breaded fried catfish, chicken fried steak and a ton of veggies and other sides ... a salad bar and a spread of sweet stuff too! Bottomless soft drinks are included and it is a heck of a deal! I'm stuffed! Check it out!

The Anticipation of the Camel Race

By Scott Wells
President and General Manager

What I was thinking when I volunteered to ride a camel in a race?!!! As the day approaches, my doubts are growing. I'm wondering what the corporate owners are going to think when they see the president and general manager out there on the racetrack on a camel. No doubt the insurance adjusters will be scanning my job description (which I intentionally left vague enough to include just about everything).
In my former life as a racehorse trainer I broke ("gentled" is a better word) close to 1000 horses. I've spent years in the saddle at all but some kind of contraption with a railing! Excuse me? A Railing? I don't like the sound of that. What if I what to "exit"? When getting bucked off a horse (Yes, that has happened a few times), I try to get free and clear--the father away from those pounding hooves the better. But a railing? I don't like the sound of that.
Plus --and this is the big one-- I've been accustomed since early childhood to the movements of a horse in full stride, I am not "synched up" to a lumbering camel. I've heard there's a lot of side-to-side "wobble" in their gait. What if....no, it's unthinkable that a man on my position -- of my experience -- would fall off in front of thousands of people that a man on my position and on TVs across the country. What the HELL was I thinking?


The Race will be this Saturday, April 10th!