By Scott Wells
President & General Manager
Remington Park
Once in
a while you see a sporting event which is so exciting, so purely contested and
so close in its outcome that it becomes an “Instant Classic.” Anyone who was present last Saturday night
for the opening weekend at Remington Park saw just such an event. The $200,000 Governor’s Cup drew two of
America’s best thoroughbreds (although there were five runners in total, it was
truly a two-horse race):
1) Prayer For Relief, who had been
trained by white-haired legend Bob Baffert, but had recently been turned over
to mega-trainer Steve Asmussen, won a double handful of major races last
season, racing from coast to coast. One
of his few disappointments came last October when he finished a close third to
Redeemed and Alternation in the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby.
2) Alternation, who after losing
the Oklahoma Derby by a head, went on to establish himself as a rising star on
the national scene. This year trainer
Donnie Von Hemel had shipped him around to win the prestigious Grade 1 Oaklawn
Handicap, as well as the Pimlico Special—the same race in which, in an earlier
time, Seabiscuit beat War Admiral.
When the gate opened, the two stars made it clear they
were going fight this thing out head-to-head.
The race was at a mile and an eighth--just over one full circuit of
Remington Park’s one-mile oval. From
start to finish, the two top horses were never more than a half-length apart,
going along at a high cruising speed, with jockeys Mark Guidry and Luis
Quinonez eyeing each other sharply, like poker players, each waiting for the
other to make a move. Guidry, the cagey
Cajun on the inside with Prayer For Relief and Quinonez, “Louie Q” to his loyal
Remington Park fans, on the outside. The
two horses had already separated themselves from the remainder of the pack by
about three lengths when they turned into the homestretch as a team. That’s when the fireworks started.
First, Alternation spun off the turn and gained a slight
advantage. Prayer For Relief hugged the
rail and closed the gap. Then Louie Q
asked Alternation for a little more and the bold, beautiful grandson of Seattle
Slew gave it, getting a head in front of his rival. Guidry and his mount came back yet
again. Then, through the last hundred
yards, the two top thoroughbreds and their jockeys gave the fans all the
excitement you could ask for in a horse race.
As they battled, they drew away from the other horses by a widening
margin. Stride for stride they went, in
unison, to the finish line. At the end,
it appeared to be a dead heat. They
could be separated only by a state-of-the-art digital camera which showed that
Alternation had prevailed by a very expensive pixel of distance. The difference? Alternation and Louie Q won the $120,000
first prize and Prayer For Relief—unbeknownst to him—picked up the $40,000
runner-up prize. The good thing is, he
couldn’t have known he lost by a nostril.
No one knew who had won until after the horses had
galloped back to the winners circle.
When the number 5 flashed up on the board and Dale Day announced that
“Alternation got his nose up in time…” the crowd cheered their approval. Donnie Von Hemel patted Alternation’s neck
proudly and shook the hand of the greatly-relieved Louie Q.
“Those two horses went the last eighth of a mile in 12
seconds flat. That’s racehorse time,”
beamed Von Hemel, a master of understatement.
“That was a horse race.”
Yes, it was. A
memorable horse race. Maybe the best
horse race in the history of Remington Park.
Check it out on our website. It’s
1 minute, 49 seconds of genuine sporting competition. Two great horses, two great jockeys and a
thrilling finish. That was a horse race.
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