TOASTIN HEROS UPSETS WORLD CHAMP EMPRESSUM IN DEE RAPER SOONER STATE STAKES

by Richard Linihan

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – April 20, 2026 – It was a bit of a David vs. Goliath story retold in the $100,000 Dee Raper Sooner State Stakes on Saturday night as Toastin Heros pulled out his slingshot and slayed the giant Empressum.

The race was at 400 yards for Oklahoma-breds, 3-years-old and older.

Empressum was a past winner of arguably the toughest race for older horses in the country – the Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos – and was also named the 2022 World Champion Racing American Quarter Horse by the American Quarter Horse Association when he won four of six starts as a 4-year-old and earned $587,896.

Empressum was also a perfect four-for-four in his Remington Park career but had not competed in Oklahoma City since winning the 2021 Remington Park Derby.

Toastin Heros was a winner of two of his last three stakes starts, albeit in smaller purse black-type races at smaller tracks. That didn’t matter to this 4-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelding nor to his backers as there wasn’t that much difference in the odds of the top two horses. Toastin Heros was sent off as the 2-1 second favorite in the race to Empressum at 3-2 odds.

The two stakes winners fought gamely to the wire in the Sooner State and it was Toastin Heros, trained by Clint Crawford, who came out on top by three-quarters of a length after the 400 yards. Jockey Jacob Enriquez kept Toastin Heros out of trouble from the outside post-position 10 and the winner cruised to the somewhat easy victory. Empressum was another head better than third-place finisher Hooked N Gone (6-1).

“He took a little stutter step at the start and it took my breath away,” Crawford said.

Normally, a tiny bit of trouble like that would spell defeat against a horse like Empressum, but that wasn’t the case for Toastin Heros.

“You don’t want to make a mistake against these,” Crawford said. “But he has such a motor on him and he had free sailing from the outside and came through. He is a lot better as a 4-year-old than he was at 3.”

Owner-breeder Gene Cox was thrilled to see this horse continue the family success that he has seen through the years.

“I had his mama (Toastin With Coronas) and his grandmama, so this is amazing,” Cox said. Cox makes his home in Chester, S.C.

The difference between the two horses’ bankrolls was Empressum’s $2,537,748 going into the race to Toastin Heros’ $344,647.

This was the first win in this stakes series for all connections.

Toastin Heros paid $6.60 to win, $3.40 to place and $2.60 to show. He covered the distance of 400 yards in :19.446 on a fast track for a 99 speed index. The rest of the order of finish past the top three was B AJ (17-1) fourth, Js On Fire (7-1) fifth, Mystic Paint (32-1) sixth, Jessies First Card (13-1) seventh, Apolitical Time (41-1) eighth and Holms (8-1) ninth. Defours was an early scratch from the race.

Toastin Heros, a 4-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelded son of Valiant Hero, out of the Coronas Leaving You mare Toastin With Coronas, earned $57,600 for his trip to the winner’s circle and now has won three off his last four stakes races. He had won the $191,000 La Fiesta Derby at the Downs at Albuquerque as a 3-year-old last year on Oct. 19 and also the Grade 1, $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 7 this year, starting for the first time as a 4-year-old. He was bred by his owner.

The Sooner State Stakes honors influential Oklahoma horseman Dee Raper. He played a key role in helping Oklahoma pass pari-mutuel racing legislation in the early 1980s. Raper also served 14 years as president of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association, all while operating Belle Mere Farms with his wife Betty. Belle Mere stood such top stallions Bully Bullion and Mr Eye Opener, while campaigning the likes of Eye Yin You to multiple stakes triumphs. Dee Raper was inducted into the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Remington Park in 2012.

Remington Park racing continues Sunday, April 19 with a first race post time of 4pm-Central.

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Remington Park has provided more than $410 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District. The $1,000,000 Heritage Place Futurity takes place on the final night of the spring season on Saturday, May 30. Remington Park presents year-round simulcast racing and casino gaming. Guests must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or to enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.