CARDIAC COWBOY BACK TO WINNING WAYS IN MIGHTY DECK THREE STAKES AT REMINGTON PARK

by Richard Linihan

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – March 8, 2026 – Trainer Jason Olmstead was never sure how Cardiac Cowboy was going to run in 2025, but he had a good feeling about him in his first stakes race of 2026 at Remington Park.

Olmstead was not wrong as Cardiac Cowboy powered his way to the front and won the $75,000 Mighty Deck Three Stakes on Sunday night. The race is a restricted Grade 2 event for Oklahoma-breds, 3-years-old and older.

“He came in here last year, sick, and never really came out of it,” Olmstead said. “But today, he was being real pushy and I just had a feeling he was going to run big.”

Cardiac Cowboy might have won only one race in nine tries last year, but he has started 2026 in fine fashion – winning his first start. The 5-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelding by Flying Cowboy 123, from the Carters Cartel mare Southard Cartel. He was sent off at lukewarm 5-1 odds, but outlasted a hard-charging 4-5 odds-on favorite, Hard to Politic, at the wire for the victory by a head. Jockey Armando Alvidrez drove Cardiac Cowboy hard to the finish line for the win for owners Tom and Lou Ann Smith, and Amber Olmstead of Pryor, Okla.

“He has run all the big races,” Olmstead said. “It was a lackluster 2025 and this was the starting point for our plan to bring him back. He was either going to go up after this race or down. Looks like it’s going to be up. There is a good Oklahoma-bred program (of stakes) for him, so that will be next.”

Alvidrez said he couldn’t ask for anything more from Cardiac Cowboy in this spot.

“He broke fast and did it on his own,” the jockey said. “He is a true professional; very nice.”

Cardiac Cowboy beat two past champions of this race – last year’s winner, Ima Fancy Eye Opener (9-2 odds, who ran fifth) and 2024 winner Ls Jacks Back (19-1, who dead-heated for seventh with Like That Corona in the field of nine).

Cardiac Cowboy covered the 250 yards over a fast track in :13.162 seconds, earning a speed index of 94. The runner-up, Hard to Politic, was a head back and another head in front of third-place finisher Mystic Paint (10-1), who also hails from Olmstead’s barn.

Cardiac Cowboy paid $12.40 to win, $4.40 to place and $3.20 to show. He earned $43,200 from the purse and improved his lifetime record to 28 starts, 11 wins, three seconds and four thirds for a bankroll of $412,556. He was bred by Jo Rice and was never sold at auction.

It was the second win in this series for Olmstead, who also trained the 2023 winner of the Mighty Deck Three Stakes – Apollitical Payoff.

Remington Park racing continues March 12-15, Thursday through Sunday. The first post time is 6 p.m. nightly with the exception of Sundays when the first race goes off at 4 p.m. All times are Central.

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Remington Park has provided more than $408 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 2026 Remington Park American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season is underway. The 85^th Oklahoma Futurity will be contested on Saturday, March 21. 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.