The biggest night of racing in North America was conducted Saturday at Remington Park with the $1.1 million Heritage Place Futurity won by Ragazzo in an upset and Separate Bet defending his local status in the Remington Park Championship.
The Eddie Willis barn dominated the Grade 1, $1,107,000 Heritage Place Futurity by sweeping the superfecta positions, taking the top four spots. Ragazzo, at 12-1 odds, won Oklahoma’s richest race by a bobbing nose over stable mate Streakin Down.
Owned by Jorge Haddad of Seguin, Texas and ridden by Freddie Martinez, Ragazzo used a sharp start to quickly put himself in position to win the 350-yard event.
“It was a perfect race,” Martinez said. “The horse got away great. He got a head start on them and no one could catch him.”
The 2-year-old colt by Shazoom from the First Down Dash mare Las Alamitos then held off a bid by Streakin Down to win by a nose in 17.585 seconds over the fast track. Running third and fourth were The Hiway and Happy Trick, completing the Willis-trained foursome at the front of the futurity.
The all Eddie Willis trained superfecta of 8-7-10-4 returned $15,234 for a $2 wager, the largest superfecta payoff this year at Remington Park.
Bred in Texas by Haddad, Ragazzo won his third consecutive race of the season in taking the Heritage Place Futurity. The $464,940 winner’s share of the futurity boosted the career earnings for Ragazzo to $486,135.
It was the first win in the Heritage Place Futurity for Haddad and Martinez. Ragazzo gave Willis his second career triumph in the race. He also won with Southern Takes All in 2007.
