DEFENDING CHAMPION TRAINER DEE KEENER HAS FASTEST QUALIFIER FOR OKLAHOMA PAINT & APPALOOSA FUTURITY WITH TURBULENT

by Richard Linihan

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – March 6, 2025 – The 2-year-old Paint filly Turbulent won her training race on Feb. 17 with the fastest time of the afternoon, going 250 yards in :13.63. She showed Thursday night that it was no fluke during trials for the $208,300 Oklahoma Paint and Appaloosa Futurity on the opening night of the 2025 Remington Park spring season.

Turbulent, a daughter of three-time World Champion Painted Turnpike, cruised home an easy winner in reaching the finals as the fastest qualifier of seven trials run Thursday. The finals will be run Saturday, March 22 at Remington Park. Turbulent won her heat with a speed index of 83, the only qualifier to break the 80 speed-index mark.

In fact, she is beginning to look a lot like her mother, Turbulence, who won a futurity at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., in 2013 by 3-3/4 lengths.

Turbulence was sent off as the heavy 2-5 wagering favorite in her trial, the third of evening, and paid $2.80 to win, $2.20 to place and $2.10 to show. Turbulent, owned by 918 Bloodstock of Inola, Okla., was bred in Oklahoma by Alexia Willis.

Keener placed five into the final for the Oklahoma Paint & Appaloosa Futurity, with all five owned by 918 Bloodstock. Keener won five of the seven trials on the night. Trainer Matt Whitekiller had the other two trial winners in PT Glitz (trial 5) and Livewires Apollo (trial 7) but neither qualified.

Keener qualified the top three fastest of the 10 finalists and half the field with five. The big oddity of the night for the Keener barn is that he won his five trials with five different jockeys. The trainer from Inola, Okla., had 21-of-the-64 runners entered in the trials Thursday.

Keener has won more races than any other trainer in Paint racing history. The lifetime  wins total for trainers among Paints, according to the American Paint Horse Association website, was Keener with 447, ahead of second-place Whitekiller’s 412. The King of the Paints for decades, the late, great Lewis Wartchow still holds third at 321 after holding the lead for many years with this breed. Wartchow passed away 22 years ago in 2003.

Whitekiller won the Oklahoma Paint and Appaloosa Futurity final last year with Wire Transfer and that tied him with the legendary Wartchow for most wins in the stakes series with five apiece. If he wants to break that record this year, he will have two  chances as he qualified the fourth fastest trial runner (Pretty Lil Poison) and the ninth-fastest (PT Angel) to the finals.

The wind picked up from a 15-mph headwind in the early trials to a 22 mph headwind in the final trial.

The 10 fastest runners in Thursday’s seven trials, (with jockey, trainer, trial number (race number), times and speed index) were:

• Turbulent, Roman Cruz, Dee Keener, trial three (race five) :15.726, 83
• Slingshot Engaged, Rolando Raudales, Dee Keener, trial two (race four), :15.850, 79
• Old Habits New Tricks, Mario Delgado, Dee Keener, trial six (race eight), :15.852, 78
• Pretty Lil Poison, Bryan Candanosa, Matt Whitekiller, trial two (race four), :15.853, 78
• Cardiac Cowgirl, Juan Pulido, Dee Keener, trial four (race six), :15.880, 78
• Cuz Eyema Cowboy Baby, Roman Cruz, Jesus Ruiz, trial four (race six), :15.887, 77
• Sexy Ross, Jesus Ayala, Dee Keener, trial one (race three), :15.893, 77
• Turnpike Jammer, Erik Esqueda, Ray Enlow, trial four (race six), :15.905, 77
• PT Angel, Francisco Calderon, Matt Whitekiller, trial two (race four), :15.947, 75
• River Flower, Edwin Escobedo, Luis Villafranco, trial six (race eight), :15.973, 74

All 10 qualifiers were from the Paint breed.

Remington Park racing continues Friday and Saturday night, March 7 & 8, with the final eight races each night, trials for the Oklahoma Futurity. The fastest five over the 300 yards each night will move on to the Grade 2 final on March 23. Post time Friday and Saturday night is 6pm. The opening weekend will conclude Sunday, March 9 with the opening race at 4pm. All times are Central.

•••••

Remington Park has provided more than $376 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, Remington Park presents year-round simulcast racing and casino gaming. The 2025 American Quarter Horse Season, features the historic 84^th edition of the Oklahoma Futurity on Saturday, March 22. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.