Jockey Calvin Borel successfully completed his Remington Park mission on the night of Aug. 21, guiding 3-10 choice Atta Boy Roy to a front-running 5 1/2-length win in the $200,000 Remington Park Sprint Cup.
It was the only ride of the evening for Borel, who spent most of the day traveling to the Oklahoma City track from Saratoga. Borel, who feels Atta Boy Roy has a big future. He won the Churchill Downs Handicap (gr. II) with the Washington-bred 5-year-old son of Tribunal May 1 and subsequently rode him to runner-up finishes in the Aristides Stakes (gr. III) and the Iowa Sprint Handicap.
“They entered this race for a reason," said Borel, winner of three of the past four renewals of the Kentucky Derby Presented by yum! Brands (gr. I). "I knew he was the best horse going in and I rode him as the best horse. The Breeders' Cup (Sprint) is the plan. We are keeping him right and prepped for the Breeders' Cup."
Owned by Roy Schaefer of Port Orchard, Wash. and trained by Valorie Lund, Atta Boy Roy handled the six-furlong Sprint Cup in 1:09.29 over a fast track. Borel had a brief battle for the lead at the start of the race but his charge took over on the turn.
At the top of the stretch Atta Boy Roy opened a daylight lead over Greeley's Conquest , the winner of the Sprint Cup a year ago. A late charge by Wando Redd put him into the runner-up position by a half-length over while Greeley’s Conquest.
Atta Boy Roy won his 10th career race from 21 attempts in the Sprint Cup, his first win at Remington Park. Out of the the Synastry mare Irish Toast, Atta Boy Roy earned $120,000 for the win to push his lifetime total to $479,363.
The winner paid $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10. Wando Redd paid $8.40 and $4.20 while Greeley's Conquest paid $3.
Patricia J. Murphy and Mr. and Mrs. Frederick L. Pabst bred Atta Boy Roy, a bay ridgling that began his career at Emerald Downs.
A race earlier on the Remington card, Shadowbdancing tallied by a half-length over Kick On in the $150,000 Governor’s Cup at 1 1/16 miles. He handed the distance in 1:43.78.
Owned by Nancy and Robert Bartels of Yukon, Okla., and trained by Terrel Gore, Shadowbdancing was ridden to victory by Eusebio Razo Jr., who put the 5-year-old horse on the lead and never relinquished it.
Shadowbdancing, sent off as the second choice in the field of seven at odds of 2-1, was pressured by Kick On the entire way but never gave way. Going Ballistic, winner of the Governor’s Cup a year ago, rallied into third position but was never a threat, finishing 3 1/4 lengths behind the top pair as the 3-2 favorite.
Shadowbdancing paid $6 to win.
The Governor’s Cup win was the 11th for Shadowbdancing, winner of the Cornhusker Handicap (gr. II) at Prairie Meadows in Iowa this summer. His first win in two attempts at Remington Park earned the son of Montbrook from the Deputy Minister mare Deputy’s Mistress $90,000. His overall bankroll now stands at $713,745.
